Hurricane Katrina

HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF PROGRAM

BROWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

September 6, 2005

OVERVIEW

The Broward County Public Schools is opening its classrooms to victims of Hurricane Katrina-ravaged sections of the Gulf Coast. As there exists the potential for hundreds, if not thousands of displaced hurricane victims to temporarily or permanently relocate to Broward County, the District is gearing up to provide educational and other services for these Americans. The District is providing relief support for the hurricane victims on a number of fronts, as follows.

DISTRICTWIDE

By order of the Superintendent, all schools are expediting admission of students from the hurricane-impacted region. Children who appear at schools without school and health records, who say they are from the hurricane region, are being admitted immediately. Schools will then attempt to acquire the students’ records from their home districts.

The District is waiving existing boundary requirements for students coming into the system from the hurricane area and is allowing them to enroll in schools outside the areas where they are currently living as is routinely done for homeless students.

The District is enlisting its internal health experts as well as outside county health officials to track and monitor the health backgrounds and current health conditions of students coming into the system from the hurricane areas.

The District will actively seek FEMA reimbursement for costs incurred by enrolling and education children from the hurricane region.

Employee fundraising efforts for hurricane victims have been initiated, including a drive at administrative sites to gift cards for designated department and drugs stores (i.e. WalMart, Target, Publix, Walgreens, etc.)

The District will be providing employment opportunity information to outside agencies that are working the relocated families as they arrive in Broward County. In addition, the District is advertising its Web site to displaced adult hurricane victims, where they can identify potential employment opportunities and apply for positions. The District will also seek to identify private construction contractors who may need local help, as the recovery and reconstruction effort in the hurricane region is expected to draw workers away from this area.
Children from the hurricane region who enroll in District schools are being identified and tracked in a special category in the student database. They will also receive donated supplies similar to what homeless students receive, including backpacks loaded with school supplies and gift cards, as available. (D. Sepielli)

The results of all school-based fund-raising activities for hurricane relief are being specifically captured and tracked as a specific database category.

The District has already initiated communications efforts to keep employees and the general public informed about the relief effort – including notices posted on the District Web site and a planned special BECON broadcast with a call-in questions segment. A hurricane Q & A section is being developed for the District Web site.

SCHOOLS

Schools are being encouraged to initiate fund-raising drives in accordance with Policy 6206 to benefit Gulf Coast hurricane victims. The specific options are:

Collect cash to be donated to specific relief organizations, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the United Way (BankAtlantic is working with the American Red Cross, accepting donations for the charity’s disaster Relief Fund.)

Collect cash for the purchase of gift cards for designated department and drug stores where displaced hurricane victims can purchase needed items.

Schools with executive, corporate and community partners will request that their partners consider matching funds collected for hurricane relief on a dollar for dollar basis.

Schools are encouraged to provide donated clothing and/or school supplies that they may have on hand to displaced hurricane victims who enroll as students similar to what is provided to needy area students throughout the regular school year.

Schools will provide social and psychological services to displaced hurricane victims who enroll as students.

COMMUNITY

District will determine if the local Salvation Army can assist the displaced hurricane victims who enroll in school and their families with clothing and other products and services they may need.

District will invite the local PTA organization to actively participate in the school-based Hurricane Katrina fund-raising effort.

District is developing plans to tie the already launched annual employee United Way campaign into the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.