School Board News

Two big-picture stories today from Sam Dillon in the New York Times and Steve Wieberg and Greg Toppo in USA TODAY on Katrina’s impact on schools and students. Historians say America’s public schools have not faced challenges this great since the Civil War. “In terms of school systems absorbing kids whose lives and homes have been shattered, what we’re going to watch over the next weeks is unprecedented in American education,” said Jeffrey Mirel, a professor of history and education at the University of Michigan.

Estimates on the number of students displaced by the storm range from well over 200,000, according to the Times, to closer to 300,000 by USA TODAY.

Houston Public Schools are enrolling many of those students. School board member Kevin Hoffman said Houston, Texas’ largest school district, can handle the influx. “This is a Herculean effort,” he said. “But it’s one of the types of things that just falls on your lap and you deal with it.”

Speaking of Houston Public Schools, their Web site has much hurricane-related information for parents, students, teachers, and anyone willing to help.

As Congress returns this week to a full agenda, relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina is front and center. Last week NSBA sent this letter to every member of Congress to put them on notice of some things they will need to be thinking about in providing immediate and longer term relief for hurricane-impacted school districts. NSBA top lobbyist Michael A. Resnick explains that since the situation is still developing, the idea was to give Congress a “heads-up” rather than offer a comprehensive proposal. Among the issues addressed: The need to move now on capital needs, since it typically takes about 18 months to complete a school building after funding is in place; short-term and long-term operational funding considerations, especially given what has happened to both the local property tax base and state revenues in affected areas; and the impact of gasoline shortages. Resnick reports that the letter already has prompted some Congressional response. Stay tuned.

Sue Huhn, a school board member in Wisconsin, alerts BoardBuzz to the efforts of enrolling displaced students in school districts in her state. Details here. The state schools superintendent has sent out a guidance letter to local school districts instructing them to immediately enroll the students and to count them for state aid.

Tell us more about how your state education system is responding by clicking here.

The Texas Education Agency is developing a database to link educators to areas with education needs. It is anticipated that administrators, teachers, teaching assistants, therapists, counselors, and diagnosticians will all be needed. Those available to help in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana can e-mail texasteachers@tea.state.tx.us.

Linda Buford-Burks, Mississippi School Boards Association director of communications, tells BoardBuzz that MSBA Executive Director Michael Waldrop is working closely with the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to help school leaders get up and running again as soon as possible. “In addition, MSBA is advising districts regarding the procedures for insurance claims, the purchases of emergency items, and other matters of concern to board members in our state at this time,” she says. “We’re also looking at collaborating with various entities to make needed supplies and services available for coast schools.”

MDE will provide a detailed numbers update on Tuesday, Buford-Burks reports, but the situation in that state at last count: 160,000 students in 44 schools districts attending 271 schools have been directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina. But every single school district in the state will be affected somehow, wrote Hank Bounds, state education superintendent, in a memo to local superintendents.

MDE is forming damage assessment and recovery teams that will be able to visit districts, to provide whatever assistance is needed, if requested by local superintendents.

The USDA has already issued a memo on the Food and Nutrition Services policy for the feeding of school children in areas recently devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Schools will be allowed to serve all meals free to attending children through September 30.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has opened a hotline for hurricane Katrina-related questions. The toll-free number, 1-800-957-5109, is for educators as well as parents. The line will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (CST). Superintendents are invited to post this number on their school district Web sites as well.

On Tuesday, September 6, TEA will post on its Web site a toll-free number for Louisiana teachers who are seeking employment in Texas schools. This toll-free number will also be staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please check the TEA Web site for details and updates.

The Texas Education Agency estimates that as of the Labor Day weekend, 6,100 students displaced by the hurricane have enrolled in Texas public schools. If you would like to donate school supplies for evacuees, e-mail schoolsupplies@tea.state.tx.us for information.

Both the Louisiana and Mississippi departments of education Web sites are full of continuing updates on the hurricane’s impact on schools, with key information for parents, students, and employees.

Louisiana’s site is here and Mississippi’s is here.

Officials with the Louisiana Department of Education continue working around the clock to assist students, parents and teachers find new schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Their emergency call center is logging a thousand calls a day and remains open this weekend and on Labor Day. They’ve also received more than 600 offers of help from around the country.

“I thank those local districts that have already enrolled our displaced students and commend their efforts to continue locating these children so they can soon be assigned to a classroom,” said State Superintendent of Education Cecil J. Picard. “I will do whatever I need to do to ensure that that Katrina’s kids can remain in Louisiana schools being taught by Louisiana educators. They need and deserve that stability,” Picard said.

As for the 600 assistance offers, the department has created a database to manage them and determine how best they can be used. Said Picard: “I am overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and neighbors across the nation. We want them to know how much we appreciate their offers of help and that we will be calling on them in the near future so they can assist the children of Louisiana.”

Full statement can be found here.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has ordered all statewide school districts not affected by the hurricane to submit an inventory of buses and drivers to assist in the continued evacuation of victims from affected areas. The governor ordered all school superintendents to work with local law enforcement to provide at least one peace officer to ride in each bus and two marked patrol cars to accompany every 10 buses. More details here.

The American Federation of Teachers is setting up a toll-free number that the Louisiana Federation of Teachers will update so that members can receive information about their jobs, benefits, and services that the union will provide, reports AFT public affairs rep Janet Bass. “We also are attempting to contact representatives in Mississippi and Alabama for their information. The United Teachers of New Orleans will also have a bulletin board on their website to help people locate members and to provide other pertinent information.”

Bass says that the AFT plans to set up “labor centers” in various places in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to help members with information and to help fulfill their immediate clothing and other emergency needs. Contributions from the AFT Disaster Relief Fund likely will be used for this effort.

“The Texas Federation of Teachers is working with AFT’s Louisiana’s leadership and assisting in finding housing for members left homeless by the hurricane,” Bass says. “They also are working with officials to find classroom space for children who have lost their homes and schools and working to help displaced teachers find jobs in Texas. Also, many New Orleans students and teachers and their families have relocated to East Baton Rouge and other parishes throughout Louisiana.”

The National Education Association has also established a hurricane disaster relief fund to provide members, leaders, and staff with the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. For more information, check out its web page dedicated to Hurricane Katrina coverage.