NSBA outlines needs of school districts affected by Katrina

09/27/05 -- NSBA has sent to Congress a series of recommendations to address the immediate and long-term needs of school districts affected by Hurricane Katrina. These needs include the following:

• Districts need direct federal assistance to aid relocated students based on the national average of per-pupil expenditure, which is approximately $8,500. This assistance should be provided for at least two years because it is not known how long it will take to reconstruct hard-hit communities and because many families might decide to stay in their new communities.

• Additional Title I funding will be needed because the number of students eligible for this program is likely to increase.

• Special education funding needs to be increased, too, because districts enrolling displaced students will have to provide services to students for whom they hadn’t budgeted. Based on national averages, at least 12 percent of displaced students -- more than 44,000 -- may need special education services that were not budgeted for by the “receiving districts.”

• Districts have immediate infrastructure needs, such as portable classrooms, along with telecommunications services to support distance learning, professional development, parent involvement, curriculum development, and basic public safety.

• Displaced students need immediate access to the school lunch and breakfast programs, and the standard income verification requirements need to be waived.

• Hard-hit school districts in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana need longer-term assistance for at least three to five years because of the magnitude of their loss, the extensive infrastructure repairs needed, and the time needed to recapture state and local revenue streams used to finance education.  

• A special school construction fund is needed. It takes 18 months to two years to build a new school, and it could take longer in the affected Gulf Coast communities because of the extent of the damage and the need for environmental assessments and hazard mitigation. In addition, the law authorizing Qualified Zone Academy Bonds should be expanded to allow these bonds to be used to construct new schools.

• NSBA urges Congress to adopt measures to help sustain the creditworthiness of affected districts. These districts could lose their standing in the bond market, especially if stable tax bases or sources of revenue to repay outstanding bonds were disrupted.

• In addition to funding for school construction, districts need designated funding for computers, textbooks, instructional supplies, software, and other equipment.

• Mississippi has a particular issue with regard to the loss of timber due to Katrina. A portion of timber resources was used to finance school district needs, and replacement funds are needed to ensure school recovery and long-term fiscal stability.

• Some teachers and other school employees might not return to affected schools, so those districts need funding to create incentives to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and administrators.