Calcasieu Parish School Board Chief Academic Officer Ronnie Harvey Jr. is recommending a plan to the board to “repurpose” Ralph Wilson and John J. Johnson elementary schools. His proposal is to move Ralph Wilson’s 90 students to the John J. Johnson campus and turn the Opelousas Street campus into the Ralph Wilson Center for Opportunities.

“The purpose of this initiative is to improve student outcome, address underperformance, promote equity and address economic shifts,” Harvey told the nearly 70 parents and community members who attended Monday night’s public meeting at the school. “This decision has not been made based on poor leadership; it is a data-driven decision.”

Harvey said if the proposal is approved during tonight’s School Board meeting, all employees at the Ralph Wilson campus will retain their jobs as long as they are a certified personnel.

“Nobody will be fired, nobody will be terminated and nobody will be sent home as long as you are a certified personnel,” he said. “That is nothing new, it is something we have always had in place in the Calcasieu School Board. Any staff may be moved to another site or they may be placed here at this site with the purpose we are recommending.

The curriculum and instruction committee unanimously approved Harvey’s proposal last week.

Harvey said reconfiguring the two schools will intentionally target and enhance student academic, social and emotional success by realigning to one single kindergarten-to-fifth grade campus.

“As a lifelong resident of this community and a product of this community, it is no secret that you have packed this cafeteria or that board room to have conversations about what is going on a Ralph Wilson Elementary School,” Harvey told parents Monday. “There is one common denominator that has been around decade after decade. It has been considered an under-performing school, a low-performing school and a school on the decline as far as enrollment.”

Harvey said while Ralph Wilson’s leadership is “phenomenal” the student population tremendously decreased after the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

“Students often resided in low-income or affordable housing that was in this neighborhood that no longer exists,” he said. “The data shows that more individuals and residents in this particular area are choosing schools of choice and they have sent their students to charter schools. That’s not what I’m saying, that’s what the data says.”

Ralph Wilson is continually listed as a chronically under-performing school.

“That means once you are on this list year after year after year, you risk your school being taken over by the state,” Harvey said. “If you’re unfamiliar with that, this is what has happened in Orleans Parish with the Recovery School District. The Recovery School District has vacated Orleans Parish and they’re looking for somewhere else to reside. As a taxpayer, I do not want to invest my tax dollars in a school that will be run by the state of Louisiana and your local school board, your local administration, your local elected officials will not have a say so.”

Harvey said his proposal to repurpose the schools is not a money-saving initiative.

“This is a student-saving initiative,” he said. “We won’t save money reconfiguring these two schools, but we will save students throughout this parish.”

Superintendent Jason VanMetre said the Ralph Wilson Center for Opportunities will be for middle school students who are over-aged, under credited, disengaged from education or have any special circumstances. There are more than 100 students in the parish who fall within that category.

VanMetre said the center will be open to any Calcasieu Parish student, not just those who live in that district.

“Change can be difficult sometimes, but it can also be exciting,” he said.

Harvey said opening the center will give the parish an opportunity to close an achievement gap, not close a school.

“This is a student-saving measure,” Harvey said. “We’re not trying to save money, we’re not trying to reallocate money to a different side of town, this is a measure that is being put in place to save our children — regardless of where they live at, regardless of what they look like and regardless of their circumstances.”

Harvey said the school — which will be an alternative program but not an alternative school — will utilize the Edgenuity program, a credit recovery course that adapts to each student’s unique learning journey. He said the board has also been in talks with Associated Builders and Contractors — who announced last month their plan to open a training center in the old Walgreens building at the corner of Gerstner Memorial Boulevard and 12th Street — about busing students to the facility to earn trade certifications.

Students can also take advantage of the parish’s Trade and Industrial programs, offered at the College Street Vocational Center, which has 15 programs with industry certifications and dual credit opportunities. 

He said students will be evaluated upon entering the program, and their educational plan will be catered to their individual needs.

“These babies need social and emotional support. These babies need mentorship but they also need mother-like figures, cousin-like figures, daddy-type figures,” Harvey said. “This will be Calcasieu Parish’s first truly wrap-around school. We’re going to focus on the student’s entire family. We’re going to improve their self-esteems and make them feel valued and capable. It is time for us to meet the students and the parents where they are instead of expecting them where they’re not.”

All the students will be bused to the campus. They will not be allowed to drive there.

John J. Johnson Principal Marlana Collins said she supports Harvey’s recommendation.

“This gives us the chance rewrite the narrative of what our kids are capable of doing,” Collins said. “They can learn, they will learn if their environment is productive for that.”

Wilson’s widow, Phyllis, and his son, Norman, attended Monday’s meeting and are encouraged by what they heard.

“At first I was apprehensive and very sad, but after hearing the whole presentation I think it’s a good thing if it’s implemented the way it’s been presented,” she said. “We have the resources, implementing it is my concern. It sounds good, but can we actually put those ideas into action?”

Wilson is a retired educator who volunteers, substitutes and mentors at her husband’s namesake school.

She said the plan to keep the Wilson name at the center is a honor to their family and “will keep his legacy alive.”