PRESS RELEASES

December 15, 2005 -- Houston Mayor Bill White today joined with public school officials to urge prompt federal funding to help cover the mounting costs of teaching schoolchildren who arrived here in the wakes of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Schools have faced added expenses since the enrollment of hurricane evacuees. Costs include opening school facilities, new teachers, counselors, security, teaching materials, overtime for academic remediation, and transportation.

"This was a national disaster and Houston stepped up in a big way, taking in thousands of students just the way we'd want our children to be helped if we were in need," said Mayor White. "The Administration, through the Secretary of Education, told us that our school districts would be reimbursed for these education costs. We are still waiting."

There are currently over 21,000 displaced Katrina and Rita students in Region IV's 54 school districts. The Region IV Service Center under the Texas Education Agency includes school districts in Harris, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, and Walker counties.

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HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Houston Independent School District took action to meet the needs of persons negatively impacted by Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita. Thousands of families and individuals evacuated to the Houston area prior to the storm slamming into the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. After the devastation of New Orleans, thousands more came to seek temporary homes and shelter.

To assist, the Houston Independent School District provided transportation for evacuees. HISD dispatched 147 school buses to New Orleans to transport families and individuals who had lost everything to floodwaters and to provide transportation to the National Guard troops. HISD staff went to evacuation centers in Houston to provide information about schools and to enroll students so that they could become involved in the shortest time possible. In addition to creating new school bus transportation stops and welcoming thousands of students to neighborhood schools, HISD open two previously closed schools to serve students housed at the evacuation centers. While all were necessary actions in this crisis situation one must not forget that all these efforts by HISD put new and additional financial pressure on the district's resources.

• HISD enrolled more than 7500 hurricane victim students during the peak enrollment period.
• Currently the district is serving 6015 hurricane impacted students, primarily from the New Orleans area.
• HISD hurricane victim student enrollment figures have grown by over 800 students during the past 4-6 weeks.
• A total of 1744 evacuee students are attending HISD high schools.
• A total of 1263 evacuee students are attending HISD middle schools.
• A total of 3008 hurricane impacted children are attending HISD elementary schools.
• HISD is spending on average between $180,000 and $195,000 per day to provide educational and support services for evacuee students. The range is used because numbers of students fluctuate daily. The average annual cost for educating a student in HISD is approximately $6500. The estimated total cost for providing essential education services to the relocated students will exceed $30,000,000 for the 2005-06 school year if current enrollment numbers remain steady. The cost includes teachers, student support personnel, facilities maintenance staff, operations support staff, classrooms, libraries, student activities, transportation, instructional materials, administration costs and technology.
• The cost for preparing, opening and operating the extra classrooms, the reopened wings at schools, the previously closed schools as education centers for evacuation center (George R. Brown and Reliant Center) students and providing transportation for these students was $524,000. Paperwork for these costs has been filed with FEMA for reimbursement. This cost figure does not include the educational staff and instructional program materials. The reopened schools ceased to operate once the evacuation centers closed and students were enrolled in neighborhood schools.
• At this time HISD has received $164,105 of federal Title V funding through the state and Education Service Center IV to help offset costs for initial enrollment of students, textbooks and security.
• Challenges currently facing the district include:
  • Providing security for students and to protect district property
  • Providing for the counseling/mental health/social service needs of students and families
  • Providing textbooks and other specialized instructional materials
  • Dealing with the mobility of students and families
  • Continuing to use reserve funds and funds budgeted for other programs to serve relocated students
  • Determining next year's budget impact of students who remain in HISD

ALDINEINDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

1. How many hurricane students do you have?

a. High School 403

b. Middle School 245

c. Elementary School 1096

2. It costs an average of $6,500 dollars a year to educate a regular, non-special population student in Aldine ISD. If you multiply 1,744 students by the average, the total is $11,336,000.

a. We have had to add several bus runs or extensions to existing bus runs at a cost of approximately $250,000.

b. We have hired 16 additional teachers because of the large enrollment of displaced students, and one additional assistant principal and counselor at a cost of more than $740, 000 in salary (not including benefits). We have also held back from hiring extra counselors, social workers and assistant principals until we receive promised federal funds.

c. We have received no reimbursements.

3. Challenges

a. Since October, as a preventive measure, Aldine ISD has employed four additional officers to assist with security at a high school and ninth grade campus with the largest enrollment of displaced students. The cost of these additional officers alone is $32,000 currently, and projected to exceed $100,000.

b. The challenges include placing students properly when they enroll and helping them be successful when many of them have not been in school since the hurricane event. Students are being given opportunities when possible to make up work, and receive additional tutoring when available. The district has also invested time and personnel in attempting to assist displaced seniors with graduation issues. Aldine has tried to place all students on the Recommended Plan, understanding that the students may need to have that plan altered, if necessary, later.

c. Because of the enormous challenges educating students who were enrolled in a state curriculum with different requirements than Texas and, accelerating the learning for students who have missed more than two months of school before enrolling in Aldine ISD, the district is providing extended day and extended week classes to prepare them for Texas' rigorous accountability tests.

d. Counseling services have been challenged because displaced students and parents have many needs. The district has been working with Communities in Schools to make Louisiana teachers available to tutor students and make people aware of any needs and services these students have. Communities in Schools has also applied for a grant to provide a social worker at Nimitz High School to help network services and provide counseling and workshops for the parents and community.