"Erase the board"

Like we said last week, it's painfully difficult to figure out, if everyone is this riled up now, just what the heck has taken so long.

But one thing hasn't seemed to change: despite Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr.'s repeated messages of unity, the community remains deeply divided about how the city's collection of more than 70 public schools should be run.

Ken Ducote, a consultant who worked for OPSB for 34 years as a teacher, school administrator and planning director, said one phrase community organizers kept repeating Thursday -- "erase the board" -- had been borrowed the from meetings in the 1990s.

And arguments between supporters of the charter movement and those wanting to return to a more traditional public schools system are again being waged.

"That kind of topic is just going to bring out big crowds," Ducote said. "It's an emotional thing."

The immediate topic at hand at Thursday's meeting was Lewis' announcement that he would be closing five schools at the end of the year, igniting protests from parents who argued that such decisions fracture communities, harm student morale and displace worthy teachers.

But even more telling was the underlying message for Lewis, whose district mostly authorizes schools rather than operates them day-to-day: Many parents don't like the new OPSB at all.

The way that's written, you might get the idea that the folks have been vigorously engaged for decades.  But the 2016 school board election was just yesterday. And nobody showed up to run.