HISD begins massive enrollment effort (updated)
Today HISD began the tremendous job of enrolling thousands of school-aged children displaced by Katrina:
The massive task of enrolling thousands of displaced children in Houston schools begins in earnest this morning at the Reliant Center and George R. Brown Convention Center.
Many could begin attending class by Thursday.
Houston Independent School District officials estimate they can enroll 500 students a day at each site, giving each a health screening and a wristband indicating their school location and school bus number.
As many as 100 buses could be needed to get the children to and from school each day.
The cost could reach $60 million if an estimated 10,000 students from Louisiana and Mississippi spend the entire school year in Houston, Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said Tuesday. HISD hopes to recoup the cost from the state and federal governments, he said.
"We're going to treat them like they're our own kids," Saavedra told school board trustees Tuesday. "But there is a serious issue of cost to this effort."
[snip]
HISD will open two previously closed elementary school campuses — Ryan and Douglass — for up to 1,350 students.
The rest will be spread among Dodson, McDade, Frost and Anson Jones elementaries. The first group of middle school students will go to Fleming and Black, with Fondren and Holland as backups.
High school students will go to Jones and Scarborough, followed by Kashmere, Barbara Jordan and Sterling as space is needed.
The district has hired 300 to 400 teachers on a temporary basis, and they're ready to start Thursday, Saavedra said.
The new teachers include many from New Orleans, Texas retirees, Teach for America teachers previously assigned to New Orleans and others, Saavedra said.
Also, HISD will be hosting a job fair on Thursday for educators displaced by Katrina.
UPDATE (9-8-2005) Jennifer Radcliffe has a recap of yesterday's registration efforts. She notes that HISD registered another 445 students yesterday, bringing HISD's total number of new students to 1,885. Radcliffe also provides some numbers for other local districts:
Suburban districts in Harris County have taken in roughly 6,900 evacuated students, including 1,148 in Cypress-Fairbanks, 811 in Alief, 404 in Klein and 900 in Katy.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/07/05 12:48 PM | Print |
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