Some New Orleans schools could reopen soon

09/27/05 -- About 12 to 16 public schools in New Orleans could reopen as early as November, says Sajan George, the managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, a private management company retained by the Louisiana Education Department to oversee the finances and operations of the New Orleans school system.

Most of those schools are in the Algiers neighborhood on the west bank of the Mississippi, and others are in uptown -- areas that did not see the worst of the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina. Those schools had minimal damage, such as broken windows, missing roof sections, and slight water damage.

Other New Orleans schools are in much worse shape, George says. “Some may have to be demolished and rebuilt.”

George says it is important to reopen schools because it’s a “positive sign for the city” and because “the city’s tax base has been wiped out” and the company is out of cash to pay teachers.

Before Katrina, the district had a deficit of approximately $35 million to $40 million.

Two days after Katrina, Alvarez & Marsal employees got into the school system’s flooded headquarters to retrieve district records on back-up tapes. They were sent to an IBM recovery center, which was able to retrieve employee, payroll, and student data.

Three of the nine public schools in the Plaquemines Parish, La., school district are tentatively scheduled to reopen in January. All students in the parish will be educated in one of those schools, all in the Belle Chasse area.

Most of the 88 schools in Jefferson Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, had minimal or isolated damage and are expected to reopen Oct. 3. Seven schools have more extensive damage and will take longer to repair.

The five schools in St. Bernard Parish were extensively flooded and aren’t expected to reopen for months. One high school in St. Tammany Parish was heavily damaged, and the district’s other schools are set to open Oct. 3.

The Mississippi Education Department has reported that 266 schools were damaged, 24 were severely damaged, and 16 were destroyed.

Of the schools that were destroyed, four are in Pass Christian, three are in Bay St. Louis, and the rest are in Hancock County, Harrison County, Jackson County, Long Beach, Ocean Springs, and Western Line. Eight schools in Pasca­goula were severely damaged.