Schools to get emergency aid

U.S. funds to help with facilities, computers for evacuee students

09:16 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Federal officials will provide emergency funds to Texas school districts to cover the costs of portable buildings and computers for thousands of Louisiana evacuee students, but reimbursement for other expenses such as additional teachers will have to wait.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials on Monday notified Texas what expenses associated with the relocation of displaced residents from Louisiana into the state will be covered by billions of dollars in emergency relief funds approved by Congress and the Bush administration.

On the list of eligible expenses for school districts are portable classroom buildings that must be used to handle the influx of as many as 50,000 to 60,000 evacuee students, mental health counselors for those students and new computers. On the other hand, hiring of additional teachers and purchase of textbooks are not eligible at this time.

Texas Education Agency officials, who reported Monday that enrollment of Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the state's public schools has reached 28,000, said they are not concerned about the costs that won't be compensated with the first wave of public assistance funds related to the disaster.

"We're still optimistic that there will be other federal funds made available to cover the costs our school districts are accruing with the influx of new students," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the TEA.

Ms. Ratcliffe also said school districts seem to be enrolling all the new students with few hitches. "Districts are doing their best to get kids in class and make them feel comfortable," she said.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said at least 372,000 students in Louisiana and Mississippi have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina – and it is still unclear where the funding will come from to educate those students until they can return home.

In Louisiana, more than 247,000 public and private school students have been displaced, 489 schools have been closed and at least six parishes have destroyed or damaged buildings. In Mississippi, more than 125,000 students have been forced to leave, with 226 schools in 30 districts closed and nearly 30 school campuses destroyed.

Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley has estimated that it could cost up to $450 million to educate 60,000 evacuee students in Texas, based on the current average annual cost of $7,500 per pupil in the public schools.

Ms. Spellings also has indicated she will use her authority to waive parts of the federal No Child Left Behind Law, which requires school districts and campuses to show yearly progress on standardized tests and to employ only teachers that meet certain standards.

E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-
katfunds_13tex.ART.State.Edition1.e70b72f.html