Colleges scramble to reopen or place students elsewhere

Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the lives of nearly 100,000 college and university students and staff just as their fall semester was getting under way. The response of the higher education community was proactive—to keep students on track by getting them relocated and enrolled as quickly as possible.

Within days of the hurricane, says Derryn Moten, president of the Faculty-Staff Alliance/AFT at Alabama State University, the faculty was informed that the university would be part of a nationwide effort to absorb some of the 35,000 displaced students. In Louisiana, functioning institutions  are allowing students to enroll at no additional cost until their home schools reopen. Around the country, offers to students ranged from waived late fees and in-state tuition for out-of-state students to full tuition, housing and flights. Active unions at these institutions are lending a hand to incorporate students and help displaced faculty.

In New Hampshire, for example, Franklin Pierce College is granting full tuition, room and board to 20 displaced students. Just 12 hours after the disaster, the Rindge Faculty Federation/AFT donated $4,000 to buy textbooks for the evacuees. Sodexho, the campus food provider, is donating food plans for each student, and a trustee contributed $10,000 for the students to buy clothing. In a place where the stated mission is to “create citizens and leaders of conscience,” says RFF president Robin Marra, this is an opportunity to live out the community’s beliefs.

AFT members report other contributions:

• In the first days after Katrina hit, SUNY-Maritime sent a ship for rescue operations. On board were six United University Professions/AFT members who were prepared to spend two months offering aid.

• SUNY-Binghamton enrolled 40 Tulane students.

• The City Colleges of Chicago have taken 29 students and are charging no tuition, reports Cook County College Teachers Union president Perry Buckley. The students will be attending on an audit basis until Thanksgiving, at which time they can convert to a credit status if their home colleges are still closed. That way, Buckley explains, there’s no alarm raised about the host colleges stealing students.

• Nassau Community College took 20 to 30 Tulane students, according to Barry Fischler, registrar and vice president of the Nassau Community College Federation of Teachers/AFT. Nassau, like many other institutions, waived tests, late payments and late registration fees and reopened classes. Books were provided at cost (courtesy of Barnes & Noble), the honors program was opened to those who qualified—and most did—and a social mixer was planned with administrators and faculty to make students feel welcome. Every Long Island college is pitching in.

• Two displaced students have signed up for classes at Suffolk Community College. Two from Tulane have landed at Stony Brook University, and at press time, Long Island University’s C.W. Post and Dowling College campuses stood ready to admit others.

• In New Jersey, Kean University has offered free tuition, fees and housing to displaced students, and other state colleges are proffering similar aid. “New Jersey will ‘leave no child behind’ who wants an education,” says Kathleen Mary Henderson, president of the Kean University Adjunct Faculty Federation/AFT, who quickly approached Kean’s president to suggest opening doors to Gulf Coast students.

Universities are offering fellowships, visiting positions, temporary appointments, funding, office space and lab access to displaced faculty while their home institutions rebuild. Two electronic message boards carry offers from institutions across the country—through the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed. The Modern Language Association is developing a Web site for emergency employment.

“It’s times like this that make us proud to be members of the UUP/SUNY community,” says William Scheuerman, president of United University Professions/AFT and an AFT vice president.

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Education and Congress scrambled to offer aid and reduce red tape for students. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that student loan borrowers living in affected areas can delay payment on their loans without penalty and that deadlines for applying to a number of higher education programs have been extended until at least Dec. 1. Capitol Hill representatives introduced a bill to defer student loan repayments.

Schools regroup and rebuild

Even as the destruction of Hurricane Katrina was being assessed in September (as AFT On Campus went to press), AFT affiliates and local and state school officials in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas were working to bring stability to the lives of the displaced educators and schoolchildren.

The AFT represents nearly 15,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, as well as higher education faculty, in the affected areas of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The union represents 6,500 people in New Orleans alone.

The United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) and its president, Brenda Mitchell, set up a temporary office in Baton Rouge, La. Working with the AFT and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), UTNO has kept its Web site current so that members can get the latest updates on New Orleans schools. The many UTNO members displaced by the hurricane have concerns about pay and insurance.

The state superintendent of schools for Louisiana announced that schools in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish would likely be closed for the entire school year.

AFT secretary-treasurer and former UTNO president Nat LaCour is a native of New Orleans. He and his family were in Baton Rouge when the hurricane hit. LaCour had not been able to determine the extent of damage to his home in New Orleans. “I do know that the water was up to the top of my house and that I’ve lost photos, recordings and other personal items that I will never be able to replace. Unfortunately, the same is true of many, many other people in my hometown.”

Affiliates spring into action

AFT affiliates in Texas were quick to help AFT colleagues from New Orleans and Jefferson Parish who had arrived in Texas just before Katrina or in the hurricane’s immediate aftermath. Within days of the storm, Texas affiliates mobilized to help evacuated members from Louisiana meet their most immediate needs. As a result of the storm, “New Orleans teachers’ first paychecks didn’t come through, and there’s no denying the urgency of the situation,” said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. As an AFT local, “we’re here to help.” An estimated 10,000 New Orleans students were expected to enroll in Houston schools.

Starting from scratch

The school board in Jefferson Parish, one of New Orleans’ largest suburbs, hoped to reopen schools on Oct. 3. Parish school employees would receive full pay and benefits through September, said Joe Potts, president of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT), which represents about 3,000 teachers and PSRPs.

Relocated teachers and school employees were calling in from across the country asking if they still have jobs, whether they should take a job elsewhere and whether they should sign up to collect unemployment, Potts reported.

Lost homes, destroyed schools

In Mississippi, approximately 800 teachers, staff and school-related personnel have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, said AFT state federation president Greg Kelly. About 350 reside on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The other 450 were in the direct path of Katrina as it roared over the rest of the state, he noted.

“We are just beginning to receive information regarding our individual members,” he reported, “but many have told us they have lost everything.”

Restoring St. Tammany Parish

Most schools in St. Tammany Parish near New Orleans escaped significant damage. Officials hoped that students could return on Oct. 3. The St. Tammany Federation of Teachers was working closely with the school superintendent. Elsie Burkhalter, president of the St. Tammany local, reported that all school employees would continue to be paid through September and would resume work in early October if the district could meet its timeline.

Some union members were not as fortunate with their own property as the district was with its schools. Burkhalter’s house and the local’s office, for example, were both under water at press time. The district was hoping its employees all would return, but the superintendent acknowledged that some might not have housing or might end up taking jobs in other locations closer to where they landed after the storm.

“We’re working as a family to keep on keeping on,” Burkhalter said. “Like always, the union makes us stronger. Thanks to the AFT, the LFT and our union brothers and sisters across this nation for their prayers and support. Knowing they’re out there gives me courage to be a fighter and a survivor.”