EDUCATION LEADERS REPORT SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS IN REOPENING SCHOOLS

Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Today Louisiana Department of Education officials released a new report outlining the progress of school districts across the state in their efforts to reopen.

Last week, 18 school districts, which account for about 19 percent of the state’s total public school student population, had resumed their 2008-2009 school year in full operation. When school bells ring tomorrow morning, Sept. 8, one week to the day after Hurricane Gustav made landfall on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, 73 percent of the state’s public school students will be back in school in 59 local school districts across the state. Education officials report by Friday, Sept. 12, those numbers will climb to 64 districts and 87 percent of the state’s public school student population. By Monday, Sept. 15, education leaders say they hope to see 100 percent of Louisiana’s public school children back in school and learning. However, if utility companies are unable to resolve electrical power failures at schools in six school districts, the Sept. 15 date will be compromised.

“BESE Board President Linda Johnson and I have spent the last few days on the ground visiting nine of the most heavily impacted parishes and we’ll continue to reach out to local school districts and their school communities to explore how the Department of Education can help them return to their way of life,” said State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek. “Our goal is to have everybody in class no later than September 15, and considering the determination and progress that superintendents have made all over this state, which we have seen and heard about over the last several days, we’re confident that we can make that happen provided we get power to those six parishes that were severely damaged. Power is a critical problem. We appreciate that power service providers are dealing with extensive damage especially in the six questionable districts, but delay deprives our children of an education.”

Department officials note the remarkable progress made by local Superintendents and School Boards, in spite of the lack or power. They say they will work in partnership with districts to offer additional support and resources.

“The Department’s experience and the experience of some of our school districts with these types of events have equipped us with the expertise to assist districts with issues related to FEMA reimbursements and facility solutions, and there are good examples of school communities that were able to overcome tremendous obstacles after Katrina and Rita. We will be relying on those models and people to help guide local districts and schools who need our support.”

State officials said the types of challenges districts face vary but there are some common issues.

“In addition to power shortages, school districts are working to overcome multiple challenges,” continued Pastorek. “Some schools are working to replace food that spoiled in their cafeteria refrigerators, some have lost documents to water damage and most are trying to identify where they are going to get the financial resources to make repairs to their buildings. Trees are blocking a lot of the roads in some of the communities we visited, which creates a challenge for districts in their ability to transport students. Some parishes are still under a boil order, and the local districts don’t have enough bottled water on hand to fully operate their schools. Some offices and schools were severely damaged requiring the temporary or permanent relocation of facilities and some schools are still housing evacuees or emergency support personnel.

“But no matter what their situations are, the overwhelming message we’ve heard in communities across the state is that the best thing we can do for our children and families, especially those living in challenging circumstances at home due to the storm, is to get students back in school. When we put children back in school, for at least eight hours a day administrators and teachers can ensure our students have nutritious meals, are housed in a suitable facility, have access to counseling and other similar services, and experience success in school, which gives children a sense of stability and belonging, things that are crucial to their quality of life.”

The greatest challenges for school districts remain in the southeast, south central and central part of the state, and while most districts sustained only minimal damage to buildings, there are some areas that will require substantial support. Specifically, the schools in Iberville, Pointe Coupee, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption and East Baton Rouge appear to have significant difficulties. But educational officials expressed their praise and gratitude for the competency, teamwork and dedication of community leaders, local education leaders, school leaders, teachers, parents and volunteers who have rallied around their schools.

“We saw and heard remarkable stories of citizens who began checking schools for damages within minutes of the storm’s passing, principals and teachers who have worked around the clock to relocate facilities and classrooms to other locations so that they could resume operations, volunteers who were removing debris, mopping up water damage, re-constructing school playgrounds and even students cleaning up their campuses,” said Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Linda Johnson. “Our prior experience with Katrina and Rita demonstrated that even in the most devastated communities, schools can actually serve as the catalyst for re-invigorating the life and spirit of a community.”

Pastorek reinforced Johnson’s appreciation for the progress that has been made.

“We want to thank school and community leaders and volunteers across the state for their overwhelming support of their school communities,” Pastorek said. “Louisiana has demonstrated that despite our current situation which is challenging and requires us to focus on sustaining our immediate needs for power, water, food and other quality of life resources, we are willing to stretch ourselves to focus on our future, which is our children and in large part their education. It’s inspiring to us as a Department to see that our state doesn’t just talk about education being one of our greatest priorities, we’ve managed to support it even during this difficult time.”

For information on school district closures, please visit the Department of Education Web site at http://www.louisianaschools.net/ or refer to the attached list of updated closures.

DISTRICT CLOSINGS AS OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOLS REOPENING ON MONDAY

NEW ORLEANS, La.- All Recovery School District-operated schools and most Recovery School District (RSD) charter schools in New Orleans will reopen on Monday, Sept. 8, 2008, one week after Hurricane Gustav made landfall in South Louisiana.

“Through the extraordinary efforts of our staff and school communities, particularly those on our operations and security teams, we’re ready to get back to the business of educating our children,” said Superintendent Paul Vallas.

Superintendent Vallas remained in New Orleans during last week’s storm with a security team so that the District could quickly begin the process of inspecting buildings and assessing damage after the storm. RSD employees worked through the week inspecting buildings, photographing damage and coordinating cleanup and repairs.

“We feel very fortunate that most school buildings sustained only minimum damage. While we had some damaged roofs and blown out windows at some schools, we’ve been working feverishly to make repairs and clean up after the storm. Overall, the buildings will be in good shape and we’re going to be ready for school on Monday.”

In New Orleans, the Recovery School District includes 34 non-charter schools and 33 charter schools. Seven RSD charter schools within the Algiers Charter School Association will reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

By late Saturday afternoon, power had been restored to all but one RSD school, and officials are confident power to that school facility will be restored by Sunday. In the case that power was not restored to school facilities, the RSD has secured several generators.

In part, District leaders credit sound preparation and constant communication for the quick recovery of school facilities, pointing to a sequence of events. On Friday, August 29, as the region braced for Hurricane Gustav, RSD school and central office staff worked to protect building contents, particularly technology and student records. After the storm, district staff fanned out to schools across the city to inspect buildings, document damage and coordinate repairs and cleanup. Superintendent Vallas also held daily conference calls with principals to keep them abreast of information about their schools. But Vallas said the most critical factor in the ability of the District to reopen schools after the storm was the competency and dedication of the staff, once again reinforcing his gratitude and praise for their willingness to work before and after the storm.

"We have some real heroes in our midst, particularly among our security team. Those men and women were our first responders who hit the ground running as soon as it was safe to do so. They did a phenomenal job making sure our buildings were secure and escorting our staff as we conducted building inspections," he said.

Monday will be a regular instruction day at RSD-operated schools. The school day is 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Friday. School buses will operate following their regular routes.

See you on Monday

After our weeklong ordeal, we are ready to get back to school next week. Buildings will be ready, and schools will reopen on Monday to a normal instructional day. While I encourage everyone to try to get back to the city this weekend and try to visit your schools, I understand that many of you may have to get your homes in order and your families situated after your return to the city. Cleanup and repair crews are working feverishly to bring your schools up to standards.

Even though Gustav’s damage to our school buildings paled in comparison to Katrina’s, there were still a number of schools that experienced damaged roofs or damaged windows. Because of widespread power outages, some schools experienced condensation issues that sometimes result when buildings are sealed, power goes out and air conditioning systems go down. With power now being restored, and with RSD generators being installed in schools still without power, we are addressing any issues that might have resulted from condensation and moisture in the buildings.

We fully expect that by Monday, all RSD schools will be in at least as good a condition as when schools started. While we understand that the student population may not return as quickly as we would like, I want to stress again that we will be returning to a normal instructional day beginning Monday. Despite the week that schools were closed, we will not have to add a single makeup day. This is because our instructional year -- as measured by instructural minutes -- will still exceed the state’s mandate.

As you may know, we provided the state with over 400 yellow school buses to help with the city’s evacuation. I can assure you that we will have more than enough buses on hand to handle our transportation needs.

We anticipate no problems ensuring that our security resources are in place by Monday, and all administrative offices will have full technology capabilities. We will continue working through the week to restore full classroom technology. We ask for your patience as our technicians complete this task.

I can also assure you that payroll has been processed, and we expect no interruptions. Friday will be a normal payday.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you for your dedication and commitment to our students. Our children will need you more than ever as they return to school.

See you next week.

Schools will remain closed all week

I hope that everyone is well and has weathered the storm. We're all grateful that the levees held and the city escaped major damage. I spent the day assessing buildings and found that by and large, we're in good shape. It also looks like our modular buildings held up well. There a few buildings with blown-out windows, and we may have to find some alternate locations if that damage can't be quickly repaired.

Although we escaped major damage, large portions of New Orleans and surrounding parishes remain without power. Every school I visited today was without power.

Our plan is to keep RSD schools closed until Monday, but of course this will depend on how quickly power can be restored. City officials have indicated that we should have power in two to three days. By Thursday, we should have a better idea of when we'll get power back. We'll make our final decision then. Please continue to monitor the emergency information page on this Web site and sources such as WWL radio and NOLA.com for updates.

Based on reports we're getting from city and parish leaders, those of you who live in Jefferson Parish residents will be able to return to your homes Wednesday after 6 a.m.

New Orleans residents will be able to return to the city after 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, when the mandatory evacuation is lifted and replaced with a voluntary evacuation. A dusk-to-dawn curfew will still be in place until further notice.

No timeline has been set yet for Plaquemines Parish residents to return. Residents can return to St. Bernard Parish and St. Tammany Parish after 6 a.m. Wednesday. St. Charles residents are being allowed to return, but St. John remains closed to residents.

If you are planning to return, be aware that power has not been restored to many areas and you may be without basic necessities and conveniences. You should plan to bring your own supply of food and water.

Please be careful in the days ahead. I wish you and your families the best. Thanks to all of you who have sent your prayers and good wishes during this challenging time.