NORA and OPSB began community meetings for both properties last fall, but extended their engagement process for the Valena C. Jones property because of an unexpected legal restriction. The public school was created through a donation of six parcels of land to OPSB from the Seventh Ward Educational League, under the stipulation that the property only be used “for educational purposes… and for colored children,” according to the 1928 act of donation.
Community members brought up the restrictions during meetings last fall, which prompted NORA to seek a legal opinion on the matter. In order to comply with the outlined conditions in the initial donation, 34% of the total property would have to be dedicated to educational use, according to the legal analysis. But that doesn’t mean that a K-12 school would be placed there — teacher training centers and childcare centers would also qualify under the restrictions.
Arlene McCarthy, a 7th Ward resident who attended the Jones school in the 1960s, said there has been a shift in tone between the initial community meetings and the two that have been held this year. McCarthy attended an earlier in-person meeting for the school on Feb. 24.
“When I first started going to the redevelopment meetings, I was really frustrated because they kept talking about commerce,” McCarthy said. “And I’m like, that’s not what that building was created for. And I’m glad now that they recognize that the educational needs of the community have to be part of whatever plan they come up with.”
Many of the community suggestions for the use of the building align with what the legal analysis deemed suitable, said Brenda Breaux, NORA’s executive director. Ideas for use that came from surveys and community meetings include education support services, adult education and workforce development training and childcare facilities.
“We’re excited about the community input and what you all have shared with us both about the history of the building, the impact that it has had on the lives of Black New Orleanians and continues to have,” Breaux said during the meeting. “We look forward to being able to continue to do our job to make certain that it’s done and it’s done in a thoughtful manner.”
NORA and OPSB will open a solicitation for developers for Valena C. Jones in May, and award the property in September, according to their projected timeline. Renovation work is projected to begin in winter of 2027 and be completed by 2030. NORA is expected to present recommendations for the award of the Israel Augustine property to OPSB later this month.
Breaux said that developers will be required to pay homage to the history of the building, and that any changes to the structure must remain in architectural context with the rest of the neighborhood.
Brenda Square, a minister of nearby Beecher Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ, said she was encouraged and hopeful about the redevelopment after Wednesday’s meeting. The church has long been associated with the Valena C. Jones property — before it had a building or a name. Square said the school was created in the church to educate formerly enslaved people. In 1906, church leaders formed the Seventh Ward Educational League to raise funds and build a neighborhood school.
It took decades of advocacy for a public school to be created in the area where Valena C. Jones now sits, Square said.
“The history of Black education is rooted in that space,” Square said. “I have spent many years trying to advocate for the preservation, the restoration of the building as a sacred legacy. That the community owns it, they gave so much to get it built.”
Several alumni and community members who spoke to Verite News said they hope the redevelopment honors the founders of the school and benefits the community.
“It’s honoring the sacrifices that our ancestors made,” McCarthy said. “They had been deprived of those opportunities, so a lot of them fought and got the education that they needed, but it was at great cost. So they were providing this to us as a gift to their descendants, and we owe them the responsibility of giving that same gift to our descendants.”
