Schools with evacuees risk academic rankings

"Texas schools welcoming Hurricane Katrina evacuees into their classrooms may be placing their state and federal ratings on the line. " -Angela

Schools with evacuees risk academic rankings

Web Posted: 09/16/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo
Express-NewsStaff Writer

Texas schools welcoming Hurricane Katrina evacuees into their classrooms may be placing their state and federal ratings on the line.

School leaders in Texas and other states have asked for flexibility under No Child Left Behind, the sweeping public school overhaul that carries sanctions for schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress two years in a row.

But U.S. Department of Education leaders say it's too early to exempt schools from the law's requirements.

Students displaced by Katrina also will be counted in the state's accountability system — for now, Texas Education Secretary Shirley Neeley said.

"It's too early to make that call," she said.

Besides determining a school's ranking, the scores carry high stakes for individual students. Children in third and fifth grades must pass portions of the test in order to promote to the next grade.

Neeley and U.S. Education Department Deputy Secretary Ray Simon met with local superintendents Thursday and visited two schools serving the city's hurricane shelters.

Simon said the education department is reviewing Texas' request for leniency under No Child Left Behind. State officials also have asked for help with funding and flexibility with deadlines for developing individual education plans for students with disabilities, among other services

"We're using common sense," Simon said. "Right now, the important thing is to get the children in school."

Federal education officials said no to a request from Mississippi that adequate yearly progress, or AYP, be waived this year for schools affected by the storm.

"Since the tests in Mississippi on which AYP determinations are made will not be administered until spring 2006, it is premature for us to consider this request at this time," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings wrote to Hank Bounds, superintendent of education for Mississippi.

During his visit, Simon reassured school leaders that local districts and states wouldn't be left with the monumental tab of educating displaced students.

The price of schooling storm victims in Texas could reach $450 million. About 40,000 displaced students have enrolled in Texas schools, and state officials say that number could grow to as many as 60,000.

Simon said Spellings, a key education adviser to then-Gov. George W. Bush, is developing a plan to ensure sufficient short- and long-term funding. The proposal will be submitted to Congress for consideration.

In the meantime, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can use disaster funds to provide temporary school facilities, as well as transportation to and from schools.

Neeley and Simon spent the day touring Hull Elementary in Northside School District and West Campus High School in South San Antonio School District. They praised the schools' staff and students for welcoming the "Katrina kids."

"Did you hear that?" Neeley asked, after meeting a group of students at Hull. "He said, 'This is my friend from New Orleans,' Isn't that wonderful?"

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jcaputo@express-news.net