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Evacuees Get Back to School Lafayette Welcomes 3,400 New Students, 88 Teachers

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

LAFAYETTE - Things went off without a hitch when evacuated students reported to school in Lafayette Parish on Monday, a school system spokeswoman said.

About 3,400 students enrolled since Katrina hit, but it will be a few days until school officials are sure exactly how many of those students remain in Lafayette, Justine Sutley said. At least 80 percent of those students did report to school Monday, Sutley said. More could come in, and others could leave as their home school districts open back up, Sutley said.

The new students were given uniforms and some school supplies. Most schools also set up a buddy system, in which each new student was partnered with another student to show them the ropes, Sutley said.

At Lafayette High, 260 new students showed up Monday, and were paired with continuing students by common interests, Sutley said.

The transition was hardest on new students who are juniors or seniors in high school, as they have had to leave schools to which they have become attached and have had many moments, like senior- year activities, disrupted, Sutley said.

"It's really emotional for them," she said.

All the new students are encouraged to sign up for school activities, Sutley said.

Monday was also the first day for 88 new teachers, most of whom are displaced from other school systems, Sutley said. The teachers were hired after a whirlwind weekend job fair. They are being assigned to schools where new teachers are needed to handle new students.

Many of the new teachers have impressive resumes, which has principals excited, Sutley said.

"They think they've gotten some real stars," Sutley said.

As the incoming students are placed into a central database, officials will be able to revise the transportation plan to make sure buses are running efficiently, Sutley said.

About 120 students were bused from the shelter at the Cajundome to attend school Monday.

Those students were assigned to the seven schools closest to the Cajundome that had the most room, Chief Academic Officer Burnell Lemoine said.

Those seven schools are Boucher Elementary, Carencro Heights Elementary, Carencro High, Carencro Middle, J. Wallace James Elementary, Lafayette Middle and Northside High.

Every other school in Lafayette Parish took in new students Monday. Schools were assigned based on the addresses where children are staying, no matter how temporary.

Woodvale Elementary planned to take in the most elementary children, 147. Lafayette High was to take in the most high- schoolers, with 284. Lafayette Middle is taking in the most middle- school children, with 108.

Superintendent James Easton said Friday he does not think the placement of the new students will affect the pending federal desegregation order.

White evacuees "invariably" came to stay with white family and friends - the same with black evacuees, Easton said. In a letter Easton addressed to the community as a whole, he wrote that the Child Development Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette took a look at the demographics of the new students.

White children make up 47 percent of the evacuated students, 38 percent are black, 4 percent are Asian, and 3 percent are Hispanic, Easton wrote.

Lafayette Parish is about 73 percent white and 24 percent black.

Eleven percent of the children are special education students, which is in line with the demographics of the parish's school population, Easton wrote.

"These folks are just like us. They are just people. If the hurricane had taken a different track, it might be your family searching for a place to live, a job, a school," Easton wrote.

New students will be given some opportunity to participate in the parish's schools-of-choice program, Easton said.

Also, students who were enrolled in special programs in their home district - like French immersion or gifted classes - will be put into those programs as quickly as possible, Lemoine said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has promised 100 percent funding of the school system's extra expenses over the next 60 days, Mona Bernard, human resources director for the school system, said.

The state is also pledging to provide more funding, she said.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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