Paul Pastorek explains how the Louisiana school district got back up and running after taking a hard hit from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

As Hurricane Katrina barreled up the Louisiana coastline, it left only a semblance of NOLA’s vibrant, historic atmosphere in its wake. It not only ravaged businesses and homes, but also flooded 85% of 125 New Orleans schools, some with up to 15 feet of water. Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita struck, causing further devastation. Statewide, 100,000 children and nearly 25,000 teachers and administrators were forced to flee. In short, the Louisiana Department of Education had a disaster on its hands.

Paul Pastorek

“Most parishes are back to normal, but a number of them are still waiting for FEMA money to rebuild their schools. Thankfully, most of their children are receiving education in temporary locations,” said Paul Pastorek, state superintendent of education. “The focus of the recovery has principally been on the city of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.”

Pastorek was appointed state superintendent earlier this year by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education after former superintendent Cecil Picard passed away in February. Previously, Pastorek served on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from 1996 to 2004 and served as chairman of the Recovery School District Advisory Committee, a 23-member council that assisted Picard in creating a long-term recovery plan post-Katrina.

Building up resources
Two years after Katrina, New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish have rebuilt or renovated 60% of their school buildings. About 50% of the student population has returned to New Orleans, while 60% have returned to St. Bernard Parish. According to Pastorek, students continue to trickle in every day. In fact, 20 to 25 children per day return to New Orleans alone.

Keeping up with the population growth in the New Orleans area has been tricky. Pastorek estimates that the student population has increased by 4,500 in recent months and only now can he say the school system has adequate facilities and teachers to accommodate all of them. The Department of Education was able to open two schools in an undamaged part of town in December 2005, followed by five schools in May 2006. In September 2006, the school system opened 31 schools it desperately needed.

“We were struggling to accommodate the students who were returning to Louisiana. We didn’t have enough teachers or staff. Last year was extremely difficult because we were playing a game of catch up, but this summer, we finally got ahead of the curve. I am happy to say we now have enough buildings and teachers to see us through the end of the school year, at least,” said Pastorek.

Pastorek explained that the school system had not been performing up to par prior to the storm, and the storm caused hundreds, if not thousands, of children to be out of school for several months to a year or more. As a result, a substantial number of first through eighth graders are not meeting academic standards. To get those students back up to speed, the Louisiana Department of Education has instituted a mandatory 90-minute after school program. “We are looking at a lot of strategies to catch them up, but frankly, I don’t know if it has ever been done on this scale before. We have many challenges still ahead.”

Tech savvy in the classroom
With enough facilities and teachers to support the school system, Pastorek has turned his attention toward improving the quality of education. “You can have people and a building, but you need a successful academic strategy,” he said. The Louisiana Department of Education hired Paul Vallas, the former superintendent of the Chicago and Philadelphia public school systems, on a two-year contract to help build staff and create a sustainable academic strategy.

Vallas has dedicated a portion of the funds the school system received from the federal government to support children who have fallen behind with after school programming and intensive intervention during the course of the normal school day. He is also introducing technology into the classroom to create a more meaningful learning experience. For example, the school system purchased laptops for all high school students equipped with the programs and coursework they need to get ahead.

“These kids never saw a computer in the classroom before the storm, and now we are handing them laptops. There is a lot of anxiety about that, but at the end of the day, I think kids will step up because they are being treated with tremendous dignity and respect. We will have some problems here and there, but I don’t want to let the errors of a few to give way to denying everyone else this great opportunity,” Pastorek said.

With 69 local school districts encompassing 1,400 schools and approximately 650,000 students, Pastorek plans to make vast improvements in six key areas over the course of his tenure. Expanding pre-kindergarten education and increasing teachers’ pay are top priorities, along with creating an educational policy based on accountability, capacity, building, and partnership. He would also like to gain a better understanding of the fiscal challenges that face school districts in order to respond to them accordingly. Focusing on other districts affected by Katrina and Rita and communicating a clear vision for the Recovery School District Ad visory Committee in New Orleans are also on the agenda.