Forty-seven schools in heavily damaged parts of New Orleans will be closed for good, according to the latest version of the School Facilities Master Plan.

All schools slated for demolition are vacant except for Harriet Tubman Elementary and Schwartz Alternative High School. A final decision on demotions won't be made until the master planning process is completed in May.

Constance Caruso, Recovery School District facility master planner, said assessors have been canvassing every one of the system's 130 buildings and 120 schools since October.

The inspections allowed Caruso and a team from Concordia Planning and Architecture to assess each building and suggest action ranging from replacement to a new maintenance schedule.

Schools recommended for demolition have extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina and years of deferred maintenance, Caruso said.

Thirty-four schools -- Abrams, Alexander, Bienville, Bradley, Coghill, Gordon, Jordan, Little Woods, Osborne, Sherwood Forest, Arthur Ashe, Lafon, LaSalle, Fisk-Howard, Hoffman, Hynes, Morris F.X. Jeff, Terrell, Wheatley, Wilson, Edison, Edwards, Haley, Hardin, Lockett, Morial, Moton, Tubman, Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Shaw, Waters, Chester and Dunbar Elementary Schools - have all been slated for replacement.

Thirteen more schools -- Gregory and Priestly junior high schools, Lake Forest Montessori and Parkview magnets, Woodson, Phillips, Lake Area and Augustine middle schools, L.B. Landry, Schwartz Alternative, Abramson, G.W. Carver and Lawless high schools -- also face the wrecking ball if recommendations are finalized.

Eight community planning sessions will be held for community members to discuss the plans. The first meeting was held Feb. 16.

"As planners we come up with options," Caruso told two dozen parents, teachers and community members at Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for a Feb. 19 community meeting. "We look at what you've already shown us and told us. ... We would like to know what only you can tell us because you live in this neighborhood."

Caruso said the buildings marked for demolition are beyond repair and it would be fiscally and physically irresponsible to rebuild. Participants are invited to comment on each proposed school demolition during every meeting.

Caruso said sites for every school building to be torn down will be reused.

Credit: Stephen Maloney

(Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires)

Source: New Orleans CityBusiness