Lower Ninth Ward school may become new training academy for NOPD

NEW ORLEANS —

A shuttered high school in the Lower Ninth Ward may get new life through the New Orleans Police Department.

Martin Luther King High School in the Lower Ninth Ward was closed in May by NOLA Public Schools due to lower-than-expected performance and dwindling enrollment. Advertisement

The building is now being considered as a new training academy for the New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services.

The district is trying to "right-size: the number of schools, and the plan to move the training academy there is a long shot given the current budget deficit.

Some people in the area have mixed emotions about the proposal.

"I understand they want the academy, but we need the children back," said one resident in the Lower Ninth Ward