NOLA Public Schools has begun a review that could lead to the closure of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Sci Tech, the only public school left in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. The district says the pre-K-through-8th-grade school could close at the end of the 2026-27 school year if it does not improve.
The district sent King a warning letter on Oct. 1, and the school is undergoing a performance review. The district also sent Fannie C. Williams Charter School, a K-8 school in New Orleans East, a warning letter that day. The two schools are the first facing potential closure under a mid-contract review policy adopted by the Orleans Parish School Board in 2026, according to NOLA.com. The policy allows the district to act before a charter contract comes up for renewal.
King received F ratings in 2023 and 2025 and a D in 2024, NOLA.com reported. The new accountability standards allow district intervention when a school accumulates multiple D or F ratings, rather than requiring officials to wait for a scheduled renewal. King’s charter is reported to run through 2028; Fannie C. Williams’ contract runs through 2030.
What the School Profile Measures
The district says academic performance scores are based largely on state standardized-test results. The Louisiana Department of Education’s school profile also provides student-group performance and demographic information, along with data on teacher qualifications, diversity and retention—additional context beyond an overall academic rating.
A Board Pledging to Fight
Friends of King, the nonprofit board that operates the school, says it will meet the district’s requirements. NOLA.com reported that Eartha Johnson, speaking for the board, said King would submit an improvement plan and performance data as ordered. The outlet also reported that school leaders intend to fight to keep King open.
NOLA.com reported that board attorney Willie Zanders cited a 2024 recommendation to keep King’s elementary grades open while closing its high school. Zanders has also filed a broad records request seeking details about how officials will decide whether to close King. He questioned whether the former high school’s scores were included in the elementary school’s past ratings; the available district and news accounts do not resolve that question.
Enrollment Numbers Behind the Scrutiny
The district's push comes amid a broader reckoning over enrollment across New Orleans' charter sector. NOLA Public Schools' Chief Schools and Accountability Officer Kelli Jordan signed the Oct. 1 warning letters sent to King and Fannie C. Williams, per NOLA.com's reporting, and interim-era comments attributed to former Superintendent Fateama Fulmore in that coverage describe persistent underperformance as putting a school's continued operation in jeopardy, with several schools across the system needing to close.
Louisiana's Act 687 requires the district to determine whether it is in a state of overcapacity. The superintendent is expected to submit an overcapacity report to the board by Nov. 15.
New Schools for New Orleans has estimated the district would need to close five to six K-8 schools and two to three high schools for most campuses to reach 92% capacity, Verite News reported. A separate meeting covered by WDSU indicated the school board could weigh closing as many as six elementary schools as part of that broader sustainability push.
King's High School Was Already Shuttered Once
This is not the first brush with closure for King. The Orleans Parish School Board voted to shutter Dr. Martin Luther King High School in 2024, while allowing Friends of King to continue operating the elementary campus, according to NOLA.com's account. At the time, Fulmore had recommended renewing King for grades K-8 with contingencies while not renewing grades 9-12 — a split outcome that KRVS Radio Acadie reported stemmed from elementary students showing academic growth and steady enrollment even as the high school lost students.
That high school campus had just 180 students in grades 9-12 inside a building built for 800, KRVS reported in late 2024, and the school's combined enrollment across both campuses had fallen below 750 — down from nearly 1,000 before the pandemic. L.B. Landry High School has also been put on notice, according to NOLA.com, as the district works through a list of schools with low scores, declining enrollment, or both.
What Happens Next
King and Fannie C. Williams must submit improvement plans and undergo a more intensive data evaluation, and both schools are expected to make public presentations explaining why they should remain open at a meeting scheduled for Nov. 5, per NOLA.com. King board members may bring in a consultant to help navigate the process, the outlet reported.
District officials base academic performance scores largely on state standardized test results. The district may ultimately revoke the schools' charters before their contracts expire, or it may allow them to continue operating under added restrictions and oversight — the outcome has not been determined. If King's charter is not renewed, the school would continue operating as usual through the rest of the school year, per NOLA.com's reporting on district procedure.
