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Katrina: Gulf-Area Students Seek State Schooling

Posted on: Sunday, 4 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

Universities already have new admissions, and families are asking about enrolling children in public schools.

Students from Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina are enrolling in Oklahoma colleges and public schools.

As of Wednesday afternoon, two students from Tulane University in New Orleans had enrolled at the University of Tulsa. TU had received calls from at least 15 students from Loyola and Tulane universities, said John Corso, the dean of admission.

Two more Tulane students enrolled at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma, and other students asked about their options at the Oklahoma colleges.

Public colleges in Oklahoma closest to Louisiana were not admitting any new students for the fall semester because they started classes as early as three weeks ago.

Corso said college freshmen need to keep up educational momentum. TU officials talked about having a reception to welcome the new students and offering special classes that would start when they arrived. Other TU students started classes Aug. 22.

"Families realize they can't afford to wait," he said. "If they truly want to send their kids to school for this semester, time is running out."

The university is mostly accepting students from the Tulsa area, but it hasn't reached out to them or tried to recruit them away from New Orleans colleges, Corso said. Local high schools have provided transcripts.

OSU might let students enroll without checking their transcripts, which are unavailable from temporarily closed Gulf Coast colleges, said Bill Ivy, the school's interim vice president for enrollment management. Paulette Cundiff, OSU's coordinator of admissions operations, said students would be considered for admission on an individual basis.

Some college classes are full, and OSU professors now have the authority to accept or reject students who ask to join during this second week of classes.

OSU and TU officials expected federal financial aid to transfer easily.

The state departments of Education and Health are working to issue a 120-day waiver for immunization records so children displaced by Katrina can enroll in Oklahoma schools, officials said.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett said her office had received inquiries from several Oklahoma school districts Wednesday.

"Obviously, these are not children who are bringing their records with them -- and they may never have those records again -- so we will reevaluate the situation at the end of the 120-day period and see where we go from there," Garrett said.

"We welcome these children to our schools, and we're happy to offer them our services," she added.

Tulsa Public Schools officials said two of the district's schools received enrollment inquiries from families that fled the hurricane- affected areas.

The district's spokesman John Hamill said the temporary waivers for immunization records would help expedite the process.

"We want to help get these kids' lives back to normal -- and that means back in the classroom -- as soon as possible," he said.

The Health Department's spokeswoman Leslea Bennett-Webb said the department could send waiver forms to schools statewide as early as Thursday.

April Marciszewski 581-8475

april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com

Andrea Eger 581-8470

andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com

Source: Tulsa World

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