Prayer, gratitude, and social media are what鈥檚 getting Texas elementary school principal Susan Brenz through the continued devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.
The hardest part, Brenz said in a phone interview from her home near Houston where she has been forced by flooding to shelter, is knowing that she鈥檚 one of the lucky ones, even as the rains continue and tornados threaten the vicinity.
鈥淚t is really challenging to mentally wrap your head around the fact that a large portion of our student body is without a home right now,鈥� said Brenz, who leads Sadie Woodard Elementary in the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District.
Cy-Fair is one of 204 Texas school districts and 43 charter schools in the state have closed at some point this week following the devastation resulting from Hurricane Harvey, according to new figures released Tuesday afternoon by the Texas Education Agency. An additional 19 districts and 8 charter schools in neighboring Louisiana have closed in response to the storm, according to that state鈥檚 education department.
Nearly half of the affected Texas districts and charters will be closed at least through the rest of this week. Three school systems, including the Port Aransas Independent School District, right where Harvey made landfall Friday as a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 130 mph, are shuttered until further notice.
All of the Port Aransas district鈥檚 facilities were harmed by the storm, including some that sustained extensive damage, Superintendent Sharon McKinney posted on Facebook late Monday night.
鈥淒ue to safety concerns and the need for expert assessments, I鈥檓 asking that no one except designated personnel and contractors enter any school facility,鈥� McKinney wrote.
Assessing Damage Will Take Time
The areas around Corpus Christi, which bore Harvey鈥檚 initial brunt, and Houston, where flooding has been severe, have seen the most widespread closures. All 51 school districts in the Houston region, plus 17 charter schools in the area, are currently closed through the end of the week.
Houston Superintendent Richard Carranza told multiple news outlets on Monday that roughly three dozen Houston school buildings had lost power or experienced flooding, with hundreds more yet to be assessed.
When all is said and done, Harvey鈥攏ow a tropical storm that is making its way out of the Gulf Coast region and into Louisiana鈥攊s expected to have dropped about 50 inches of rain on the Houston area. The storm is 鈥渙ne of the largest disasters America has ever faced,鈥� said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Determining the full extent of the damage on the region and its schools will take weeks, if not months. The same goes for determining how many students are ultimately displaced and where they end up.
Early reports indicate that the Dallas and Austin school districts are among those expected to enroll students from affected areas who have been forced to leave their homes.
Robyn Harris, a spokeswoman for the Dallas district, said the district has designated three schools near the city鈥檚 convention center in downtown Dallas in which children displaced by the storm could enroll. Those children will also be able to enroll at any district school, Harris said, and will be provided with mental health counselors, backpacks, and school supplies.
鈥淲e understand that a lot of them might be coming with just the shirts and their backs and the shoes on their feet,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about Texans helping Texans. This is something that we have to do.鈥�
In the meantime, districts in some of the immediately affected communities have opened schools as emergency shelters.
Approx 1,000 people have found shelter from at . Thanks to our community for your generosity and donations!
鈥� Katy ISD (@katyisd)
In Houston, though, the city鈥檚 office of emergency management that the Houston ISD鈥檚 sites be closed due to 鈥渁ccessibility and safety concerns.鈥� Evacuees were being sent to the city鈥檚 convention center and multiservice centers.
The HISD Foundation is currently to help families affected by Harvey. The group is an independent nonprofit organization, with a board consisting of civic, business, and community leaders in the Houston area
A School in the Middle of a Lake
Photos and video from Woodard Elementary, where Susan Brenz is the principal, offer a window into the destruction.
Video: Overflowing water from Cypress Creek spills out onto school-zone roadways and the school lot surrounding Sadie Woodard Elementary in the Cypress Fairbanks school district near Houston.--Footage courtesy of Eric Milliren
As of Monday afternoon, the building was surrounded on all sides by water. Images provided by a teacher at the school showed the parking lot and basketball court to be completely flooded, with the school appearing as a small island in the middle of a large lake.
Back in 2015, when the building opened, Principal Brenz and others about the 鈥渋ncredibly beautiful鈥� facility and how it had been outfitted specifically to meet 鈥�21st century鈥� demands.
Now, Cypress Fairbanks officials are asking staff to stay out of all school buildings, saying they first need to be assessed by police and other local agencies, Brenz said.
One key to riding out the storm, she said, has been social media. Brenz has been reaching out to families, students, and staff through a popular text-messaging-for schools service called . Principals in the district are sharing ideas and words of encouragement through an app called . And school leaders from around the country have offered support through a Facebook group called Principals Helping Principals, Brenz said.
鈥淧eople are doing absolutely everything they can do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t helps to know that there are other people who are going through the exact same thing.鈥�
鈥楲ike Waiting for Water to Boil鈥�
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Education that it had activated its emergency response contact center in response to the fallout from Harvey. According to a statement, the department is working with the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to assess damage and needs. Federal education officials will also provide 鈥渁dministrative flexibilities related to federal student aid rules.鈥�
But for now, uncertainty over what happens next鈥攂oth in the short term and in the long term鈥攔ules the day.
For educators like Valentina Gonzalez, who works as a professional development specialist for English-language learners in a suburban district outside Houston, that鈥檚 causing considerable anxiety.
Her neighborhood has not completely flooded, Gonzalez said, but the Brazos River near her home is expected to crest in the coming days. Unfortunately, no one knows exactly when.
鈥淲e are just constantly watching the news,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like waiting for water to boil.鈥�
Photo: Waist-deep floodwaters spawned by Tropical Storm Harvey spill out onto school-zone roadways around Sadie Woodard Elementary School in Cypress, Texas.--Photo by Eric Milliren
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