May 30, 2018 Superintendent] Henderson Lewis, Jr. Dear Mr. Himelstein et al; Thank you for your continued engagement and partnership during this time of transition for Cypress Academy. I recognize the difficult circumstances that the school community is facing and it's the responsibility of my administration to ensure that we do not allow a school closure decision announced so late in the year to jeopardize the academic experience of your children. The circumstances in which we find ourselves are not just difficult but also extraordinary, and my administration is steadfastly committed to continuing to work with you and all other families at Cypress Academy. While we continue to address the urgent circumstances for your families, we will also work with our elected board to explore broader policy solutions to protect families in the future. What we can assure you and all families is the following: We are committed to direct-operating Cypress Academy for at least two years and engaging you early and transparently in critical conversations regarding the fate of Cypress Academy after the 2019-20 academic year. We are confident that this timeline affords us the best possible opportunity to work together to address the short term staf?ng) and long-term governance) questions facing the school; 2. We desire to collaborate with all Cypress families during this next phase of the school, and to do so, we welcome ongoing engagement between a parent teacher organization that is to be established, and the school leadership. Ms. Laverne Fleming, and my administrative team, stand ready to begin working immediately to finalize the details of this arrangement. 3. Today, Wednesday May 30th at 6pm, Interim School Leader Laverne Fleming and Dr. Hazel Parker are very much looking forward to meeting with families to discuss the programmatic offerings at Cypress for next year and to gather and incorporate family feedback about these plans. Please feel free to respond directly to my office with any questions or concerns. Sinc rely your Jr Su'pe tendent of Schools - 504.304.5678 - 3520 General DeGaulle Drive - New Orleans, Louisiana - 70114 Your Proposal Our Response Empower Cypress families to decide by a majority vote in January 2019, whether the school will remain open for the 19/20 year. If the vote decides to close the school, all families would be given closing school priority 0 OPSB commits to directly run Cypress for 3 years unless a charter written and applied for by Cypress families is approved. it is our intent that any decision made regarding the closure of Cypress Academy after the 19/20 SY be made prior to the Thanksgiving break. if the decision is made to close Cypress Academy, all families will receive closing school priority in OneApp. Committing to closing the school year at the end of 2018- 2019 school year would not provide stability for Cypress Academy nor serve the best interests of children. We are working hard to retain and attract great staff and we cannot do so with a one-year plan and it is our position that it would be irresponsible to the entire school community to attempt to do so. Therefore we are committing to directly running Cypress for two years (18/19 and 19/20 SY). This will provide stability as the Cypress community considers its options for the long- term future of the school. We believe that a two-year timeline is appropriate to allow a collective and collaborative process to decide the future of the school and provide families with the ability to make an informed decision about their school choice moving forward. As we work to provide stability, individual entities interested in operating Cypress will be able to apply for a charter. As a district-operated school, any re-chartering of Cypress would be as a Type 3 conversion. Per state law and district policy, OPSB must accept and review Type 3 charter conversion applications from any eligible organization, in accordance with established timelines and processes. State law and district policy also govern the participation of families and/or staff in the Type 3 conversion process. Therefore, in any re- chartering scenario, Cypress families would be able to establish a nonprofit organization in order to submit an application. The OPSB will run two charter application processes in the 18/19 SY one in July 2018 and in March 2019. It is our position that a viable charter application cannot be sufficiently completed by July 2018. Therefore, the earliest an acceptable application could be submitted to re-charter - 504.304.5678 - 3520 General DeGaulle Drive - New Orleans, Louisiana - 70114 Your Proposal Our Response Cypress Academy would be in the March 2019 application window. 0 Establish a ?co?governing model" between the OPSB and the families of Cypress Academy. The elected board of the OPSB is supplanting the existing board of directors of Cypress Academy as the governing body of the school. It is not legally supportable to have multiple governing boards overseeing one school. 0 In the coming weeks, the OPSB administration will work to establish a relationship between the school leadership, OPSB, and families to discuss essential issues that impact student?s day to day learning experience and long-term planning for the school?s future. - 504.304.5678 - 3520 General DeGaulle Drive - New Orleans, Louisiana - 70114