As Jo-Ann G. Ordoyne takes the roll in her 11th grade American history class, about half the names she calls out are greeted with silence.
鈥淔ernando?鈥� says Ordoyne, a teacher here at Bonnabel High School for 33 years. 鈥淎nybody hear from Fernando?鈥�
No one answers.
鈥淢egan?鈥� she calls out a few minutes later.
鈥淚 heard that she鈥檚 not coming back,鈥� one student replies.
It is Monday morning, Oct. 3, the first day back for public schools in Jefferson Parish鈥攋ust outside New Orleans鈥攕ince Hurricane Katrina struck southeastern Louisiana on Aug. 29. Since that day, Ordoyne鈥檚 students have been scattered far and wide: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Panama City, Fla., Shreveport, La., and St. Louis.
Now 15 of them are reunited, but things are definitely not the same. They鈥檝e all been through a lot, and so has their school.
First, there was the storm. Roofing was ripped off some of the beige, block-like buildings that make up Bonnabel High鈥檚 nondescript campus nestled in a suburban neighborhood near the New Orleans airport. Heavy rains flooded halls and classrooms. Powerful winds leveled trees. Parts of the campus were under more than a foot of water.
And then there was the mess left after the school was pressed into service as an evacuation center. Filthy clothes, rotting food, urine, and feces had soiled hallways and classrooms.
Still, five weeks after Katrina landed in Louisiana, Bonnabel and 78 other Jefferson Parish schools were welcoming students back鈥攁nd far sooner than many had expected.
鈥淚t was an incredible effort by a whole lot of people,鈥� says Diane Roussel, the superintendent of the district, which enrolled 49,000 students before the hurricane forced mass evacuations in the New Orleans area.
As school resumes, Ordoyne鈥檚 regular classroom is still off limits, with cleanup contractors removing ceiling tiles, flooring, and plasterboard. The teacher is in temporary quarters that are not nearly as fancy as her old space, dubbed the 鈥淔ourth of July鈥� room by cleanup contractors because of its elaborate red, white, and blue decorations.
Read the related story,
Still, the 55-year-old educator has festooned the room with eye-catching extras: stuffed bears in honor of the school mascot, a big poster from the movie 鈥淢eet Joe Black,鈥� and placards with slogans like 鈥淵ou never, never, ever give up!鈥�
On the front chalkboard, she has written: 鈥淲elcome back, Bruins!鈥�
In her makeshift surroundings this first morning back, Ms. O., as Ordoyne鈥檚 students call her, shares some of her own experiences and invites the students to speak up, too.
鈥淲e have all lost something,鈥� she tells the class. 鈥淏ut in spite of all our personal misery, we are here, and we know the value of education.
鈥淭he future that you envision for yourself,鈥� she adds, 鈥渂egins again today.鈥�
The 鈥楥鈥� List
The worst damage in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina didn鈥檛 come to Jefferson Parish. That distinction was reserved for portions of New Orleans, as well as St. Bernard Parish, where large areas were deep under water. Public schools still are closed in those areas.
Even so, Jefferson Parish didn鈥檛 get off easy. The district headquarters remains unusable. Five of the system鈥檚 84 public schools were damaged so badly that they still have not opened, and may well be written off altogether. Many local businesses remained closed the first week of October, including two major shopping malls.
Days after the storm hit, district leaders began the task of getting the school system open again. At an early-September school board meeting鈥攈eld in Baton Rouge, the state capital鈥攄istrict officials estimated that about half the schools would be ready for the target reopening date of Oct. 3.
Schools were divided into three categories鈥擜, B, and C鈥攂ased on the extent of damage. C schools had the most severe damage, and were not expected to reopen on the target date, if ever.
Bonnabel High was on the C list. So was Paul J. Solis Elementary, due south of New Orleans, across the snaking Mississippi River.
Despite its C-list status, Ginny S. Dufrene, the principal of Solis Elementary, was determined to get her school ready in a hurry. Among the tasks was pushing standing water out of the main building.
鈥淎ll of the trees were down in the backyard,鈥� recalls Dufrene, 51, thumbing through a photo album of the damage during a tour of the school. 鈥淪ixty-five percent of the roof was gone. 鈥� One classroom had about four inches of water in it.鈥�
She points to another photo: 鈥淭his is a 14-foot glass window that was blown to the middle of the floor.鈥� And, she recalls, 鈥渟tink bugs鈥� were all over the foyer.
Another picture shows National Guard troops from Oklahoma and northeastern Louisiana removing fallen trees.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any food or drink or anything to give these people,鈥� laments Dufrene, who is quick with a hug and has an easy familiarity with her students and teachers.
Scott B. Adams, the construction manager for the Jefferson Parish schools, praises Dufrene and some of her teachers for making 鈥渁 Herculean effort. ... They were true heroes in this thing.鈥�
Hauling Trees, Bleaching Walls
If there was a hero at Bonnabel High School, by some accounts it was Alan P. Forcha, the school鈥檚 plant manager, who stayed on campus throughout the storm and afterward. He did all he could to minimize the damage, and barely slept the week of the storm.
鈥淚 never, ever thought the school would open鈥� on time, he says. 鈥淚t was just trashed.鈥�
The school was not supposed to be an evacuation center, he says, but at the last minute, the police said it was needed to take in displaced people.
鈥淚 had to turn it over to the authorities,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚t was crazy; it was chaos.鈥�
In all, some 2,000 evacuees stayed at the school over the course of seven days, he says, though they came and left in waves.
鈥淢ost of the people who came in had no food, no water, they had nothing,鈥� Forcha says. The situation worsened when the buildings first lost power, and then water.
鈥淭he buildings were just deplorable,鈥� says Raymond Ferrand, Bonnabel鈥檚 principal, in describing the damage inside from its use as a shelter. 鈥淭hat was probably the biggest shock to all of us.鈥�
Ferrand says some items, including physical education uniforms and sweat suits, were taken; he estimates the school lost 鈥�$5,000 worth of stuff鈥� that way.
Teachers and other staff members helped with some of the cleanup, though professional contractors were hired to sanitize the buildings and help them meet health and safety codes.
鈥淭he school was in bad shape,鈥� Ordoyne tells her history students. 鈥淎ll of your teachers 鈥� were cutting trees and hauling trees, bleaching walls, picking up things that we never ever thought that we would have to pick up.鈥�
The first week of school, contractors are still on the nine-building campus, with their efforts focused on one building that remained closed and another that is only partially open. In addition, more than 150 state and local police from New Jersey鈥攊n the area to help with the local relief efforts鈥攁re still staying in the gymnasium, and using half the cafeteria for dining.
For Ordoyne, Katrina calls to mind another big storm, Hurricane Betsy, which hit the area when she was a teenager back in 1965. She lived at the time in what she describes as a 鈥渢ypical old New Orleans home鈥� on St. Patrick Street with her parents, two brothers, and a sister.
鈥淚 can remember the house just rattling, and the wind just blowing and howling and making these screeching, high-pitched sounds,鈥� she says.
The shingles from a neighbor鈥檚 house crashed through her family鈥檚 windows.
鈥淚 can see it as if it were yesterday, those red-clay shingles just like knives in the wooden floor,鈥� she says.
This time, Ordoyne鈥檚 home in nearby St. Charles Parish suffered only minor damage. But she lost at least one thing of great personal value. Katrina leveled three pear trees in her backyard planted years ago, one for each of her daughters.
鈥業 Dreaded Today鈥�
Many of the 664 students who showed up the first day at Bonnabel鈥攍ess than half the usual population of about 1,600鈥攈ad been through a month of upheaval: packed into small hotel rooms in unfamiliar cities, staying at the Astrodome in Houston, moving from city to city, returning in some cases to see their homes unlivable and their parents out of work.
鈥淭he hurricane, the natural disaster, is over,鈥� says Jo Ballantine, Bonnabel High School鈥檚 social worker. 鈥淏ut there is, I think, a hurricane inside of each one of us.鈥�
Bonnabel serves a diverse enrollment, with many students from low-income families here in Kenner. Almost half the students are African-American; about one-third are white; one quarter are Hispanic or Asian.
About two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Most of the more affluent families here, including many in the neighborhoods right by the school, send their children to private schools.
Regjon Lee, a 10th grader, says she spent 鈥渇our strong, hard weeks鈥� in Baton Rouge after the storm. She slept on the floor in a Motel 6 in Baton Rouge with seven family members, all in the same room.
Karen Villegas, a junior at Bonnabel, traveled to Houston with her extended family鈥攑arents, siblings (including a pregnant sister), her aunt, and her grandmother鈥攚here they stayed in a trailer.
She attended a Houston public school for about one week.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like it,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really have any time to get accustomed, so it was weird.鈥�
She still can鈥檛 stay in her home, which sustained heavy damage.
Leigha Cooley, another junior, says she doesn鈥檛 feel quite right. With her, it isn鈥檛 so much what she lost. Her trouble seemed akin to survivor鈥檚 guilt.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 lose anything, and a lot of people did,鈥� she says.
Angela Carrillo, another 16-year-old junior, says she worried about what she would find on her first day back to school.
鈥淚 dreaded today,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was scared to come back and see who鈥檚 not going to be here.鈥�
At Solis Elementary, emotions also remain fragile the first week of school.
Teacher Camelia H. Hinojosa has put up a map in her classroom where her 3rd graders can mark places they stayed during and after the storm: Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., to name a few.
Hinojosa says she is staying with a cousin, since her home is not yet habitable. She lost not only her home, but also her portable classroom.
鈥淎ll of the children鈥檚 things, according to the National Guard, had to be thrown away,鈥� she says, adding that she isn鈥檛 ready to let the students see their old room yet.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l understand when you see it,鈥� she explains, starting to tear up. 鈥淚t was upsetting to me.鈥�
The portable, under lock and key, is a mess, with moldy walls, debris scattered across the floor, and a gaping hole in the ceiling exposing bare sky above.
Another portable at the school, meanwhile, seems frozen in time.
A message on the whiteboard from Aug. 26, the last day of school before the storm, reads: 鈥淭he weatherman says we will feel the heat as much as had been over the weekend. Hurricane Katrina is in the Gulf and the Weather Center is keeping a close watch on her.鈥�
On one wall, a giant purple octopus keeps an eye on the classroom, but the decoration can鈥檛 be saved because it鈥檚 covered with mold. 鈥淭he kids called him Ollie,鈥� says Sheila Adams, who taught special-needs students in the room. 鈥淗e was usually the first thing I saw in the morning when I opened the door.鈥�
The records clerk at Solis Elementary, April W. Stock, also suffered a loss after the storm: Her home was looted, including her 16-year-old son鈥檚 life savings of $157.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if you can put a monetary value on it, but I lost my sense of security,鈥� she says.
Job security is another problem for many school employees. If not enough students return, the district will likely have to lay off staff. 鈥淩ight now, I actually have too many teachers,鈥� says Ronald P. Ceruti, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent for human resources. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 get those kids, then you don鈥檛 get the money.鈥�
鈥楾his Is Your Catastrophe鈥�
Back at Bonnabel High on day three, Ordoyne is already diving back into the curriculum. She is giving one of her U.S. history classes a quiz that day, and is planning another for the following day.
Most kids, she said, aren鈥檛 able to do homework outside of school, because they are helping rebuild their families鈥� houses, are piled into close quarters with many relatives, or are holding part-time jobs.
Still, she says, most of her students are 鈥渞eally good.鈥�
鈥淓very now and then, I鈥檒l have one that drifts off, or starts to cry, and I tell them: 鈥榊ou know what? If you have to cry, cry,鈥� 鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to help them cope.鈥�
Part of that effort is helping her students realize that they鈥檙e not the first ones to weather a disaster.
鈥淎s we talked about the Great Depression in history, that was not your reference, so you didn鈥檛 know the sacrifices that that generation made,鈥� Ordoyne tells them the first day back to school. 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 realize how strong a character it took to pull together to rebuild after the Great Depression.
鈥淣ow it has happened to you,鈥� she continues. 鈥淭his is your catastrophe, and as you grow older, grow into adulthood, you鈥檒l talk about this for years to come, and you鈥檒l tell people: You haven鈥檛 experienced anything. I survived Katrina.鈥�
