Schools focus on flood stress
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 20, 2016 9:57 AM
Getting schools back to normal is easier said than done, as officials have been preparing for students to return today.
Stress is a big concern, and the variables are plentiful, for students as well as staff, Ken Derksen, director of communication services for Wayne County Public Schools, said on Wednesday.
"Teachers just returned Tuesday, those are the first teachers coming back," he said. "We may not find out some of the student needs until the students show up on our doorstep.
"That's what we have been doing all week -- trying to get a handle on exactly how many students have been impacted and/or displaced as a result of the storm."
Complicating the situation is that there were essentially two events, Derksen said, the hurricane and the subsequent flooding.
The gamut of experiences and issues will vary, he said.
"What we're trying to do is identify the needs, how many students were displaced from their homes, how many are living in hotels or with family friends," he said. "In another part of the district you might have students who lost their homes, they lost their toys, they lost their belongings.
"Even if the child did not lose their home or weren't impacted, they might have seen someone who did or seen it on the news. And also we know that we have had children involved in either water rescue or water evacuation. We need to get a handle on who those children are so there's support in place so that when they come back to school they can have a little normalcy in their day."
The district is also encouraging employees to take advantage of an assistance program in place.
"There's going to be some issues, some stress that they're dealing with, too -- 'How am I going to repair my home?' 'How am I going to replace my home?'" he said, in addition to juggling family responsibilities and trying to do their job.
Support for students and staff will be available as long as it's needed, Derksen said. Individual schools have their own crisis teams, made up of school psychologists, counselors and social workers, and the district has a crisis team that will continue to identify and monitor needs.
Schools have been closed since Hurricane Matthew, allowing the district to assess roadways affected by the flooding and any damages and cleanup required at schools.
The district announced late last week schools would reopen on Thursday and Friday, making Saturday an early dismissal day.
On Monday, the plan was updated. Schools will now start today on a two-hour delay, operate on a regular schedule Friday and Saturday classes are canceled.
The three school-based evacuation shelters have been consolidated and relocated, forcing those still needing the service to move to the former School Street School for as long as needed. The district will provide bus stops at the shelter to transport those students to their home schools, and is working to identify those staying somewhere other their primary residents.
The situation is also creating issues with the transportation department. In addition to working with the state's Department of Transportation, DOT, to determine which roads are passable and reroute buses, there is the moving target of students forced to either go to a shelter or relocate with relatives in and out of the district.
Robert Lee, WCPS transportation director, said he plans to release bus routes to the individual schools by noon today. Parents are encouraged to call their child's school for that information as well as to advise personnel of any address changes.
Meanwhile, eight schools are experiencing phone issues as a result of an AT&T equipment site being damaged by flooding. Schools affected include Eastern Wayne and Spring Creek elementary, middle and high schools, Meadow Lane Elementary and Greenwood Middle schools. Those schools can make outgoing calls and receive calls internally, but cannot receive calls from outside numbers.
Until further notice, anyone needing to call the affected schools is asked to call the administrative offices at 919-731-5900 to have the call transferred.
A student needs hotline was also set up on Tuesday, for the school system to better identify the needs of those impacted and/or displaced.
Parents are urged to call 919-705-6158 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. as long as the service is needed, or visit the district website, www.waynecountyschools.org, to complete a student needs survey and provide the same information.