Jefferson charter school budget has $87,500 per student
Published: Sunday, November 27, 2011, 7:30 AM
As Jefferson Parish public school officials consider opening more charter schools, they are questioning whether the system's first charter is doing enough to help at-risk students. Jefferson Community School now has seven teachers but just eight students, a ratio that would be the envy of many schools with much larger classes. It has a budget of almost $700,000 this year -- $87,500 per student, if the current enrollment doesn't change, and more than seven times the parish average.
Jefferson Community School Principal Glenn Gennaro; Jefferson Parish Schools Superintendent James MezaIn light of such disparities, interim Superintendent James Meza said he has asked Jefferson Community officials to rewrite the school's mission in order to serve a larger segment of the parish's at-risk population.
"It's not an issue of quality," Meza said. "We need to find a way to bring in more students who will benefit from the