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9/6/2005 To: District Superintendents From: Susan Castillo, Superintendent of Public Instruction We anticipate that students will be arriving in Oregon schools from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some may be coming to relocation centers, primarily in the Portland area. Others may come through relatives and friends of these children who may bring them to your school system for enrollment. Immediate Enrollment We anticipate that these students will not have standard records, nor will their former school districts be prepared to assist with record transfer. Children experiencing homelessness may be immediately enrolled and processed through your normal enrollment procedures without authenticating documents such as birth certificates, immunizations, housing-address documents, and school records. Enroll these students immediately and follow-up with your standard pupil personnel procedures as necessary. Please follow your normal enrollment procedures including the assignment of a Secure Student Identification Number (SSID). The Louisiana Department of Education has developed procedures to assist you with the enrollment of students from that state. District Homeless Coordinators or other appropriate pupil personnel staff can submit names of students from Louisiana to deidre.kibbe@la.gov to obtain pertinent data regarding these students. Attached to this note, you will find an Excel File from Louisiana with directions, a form, samples and a list of schools in Louisiana that are impacted by the storm. This will help you identify the last school attended by the student you are registering. Please use this process in requesting information from Louisiana. Special Services School records normally received from the sending school may not be available at this time. Use whatever information the responsible person reports to the school. An honor system will have to be used. If the responsible person declares that the student was receiving Special Education or Limited English Proficiency services, we should assume eligibility. Since families are homeless and unemployed, we can assume eligibility for free meals and for Title I services. All appropriate testing and paper work can follow after the student is enrolled and receiving service. Once schools are operational in their home district, it may be possible to secure records. However, given the extent of destruction, this may not be possible in every case. For some students it may be difficult to discern the needs for special services. It would be wise for special education staff to have direct contact with any student for who the classroom teacher has concerns, have the staff talk and, perhaps, observe to determine what, if any, support might be evident. It is important to understand that under stress many of these children may perform as if they need special services when, in fact, they are coping with the new external environment and circumstances in their lives. Give them some time to become acquainted with the environment, yet do not overlook the obvious needs they may demonstrate. Homeless Status Children and youth experiencing homelessness may not be charged tuition or other fees. Districts receiving subgrants under the McKinney-Vento Act may use part of their budgets to assist these families with school supplies and other needs. Districts receiving Title I-A funding may use their Homeless Set-Asides to address these needs. These students may have “school supply” needs including standard classroom needs, equipment and textbooks. District Homeless Liaisons in your system are familiar with these requests and can assist you in meeting the needs. Many districts have school supply assistance programs for low-income families at the beginning of the school year. Relocated students should be considered for these programs. In addition to school supplies, Title IA expenditures can also include: replacement birth certificates, immunizations (although a 30-day grace period is available for new students who arrive without records), clothing, shoes, hygiene supplies, school records retrieval, counseling, school athletics and music fees, extra-curricular activities fees, supplemental transportation, tutoring, assessment, homework assistance. These federal funds can also help to pay for staff who are assisting homeless and displaced students. Free school meals are available immediately to all homeless students through the USDA School Meals program. District Homeless Liaisons should keep track of hurricane evacuees separately, for future state and federal reporting purposes. Health/Counseling Needs Immunizations and health needs can be met through your school nurses. Referral to local health departments or clinics may be necessary. Coordination with local public health and human service organizations can expedite any necessary health screenings and needed services. Counseling and mental health services may be needed for students and families who have experienced the trauma of the storm, flood and its aftermath. School counselors and other pupil personnel staff should be vigilant for signs of mental stress and be available to students and families for support. Coordination with local mental health providers will assist school staff in linking families to service providers. Schools may wish to monitor closely the questions and concerns of current students as they see the coverage of the hurricane’s devastation. Even students not directly affected by this disaster may need extra attention or counseling services. Can You Help? Please let us know if you think you could absorb new students in your district if the need arises. We are also interested in knowing what needs you may have in assisting displaced students. Please insert you answers to the two questions below and press “return to sender” on your email browser. Do you have extra capacity (school buildings) in case there is demonstrated need and are you open to utilizing the extra capacity? Response: If you are taking in displaced students and families what are your needs? A listing of key contacts for assistance with the Oregon Department of Education is below. Thank you for all of your assistance to Oregon’s children and their families and for your immediate attention and special efforts to assist our newest students in our schools. Please let ODE staff know if we can assist you in some way. If you would like to offer assistance or enrollment opportunities to relocated families, please contact Chief of Staff Ed Dennis at ed.dennis@state.or.us. You can also go to the ODE home page to see a link for more information and updates on relied efforts and related issues. Oregon Department of Education Contact List All listed individuals can be reached through the main switchboard at ODE 503-378-3600 Receptionist Pat Bruebaker can connect you to the right extension. Council of Chief State School Officers National Liaison Ed Dennis, Chief of Staff ed.dennis@state.or.us Homeless Programs Dona Bolt dona.bolt@state.or.us Title I Programs Helen Maguire helen.maguire@state.or.us ESL/Blilingual Programs Carmen West carmen.west@state.or.us Migrant Programs Charlie Benitez charlie.benitez@state.or.us Special Education Services Nancy Latini nancy.latini@state.or.us Federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch and Breakfast Program Joyce Dougherty joyce.dougherty@state.or.us Heidi DuPuis heidi.dupuis@state.or.us Enrollment and Membership Mark Patterson Mark.patterson@state.or.us Assessment and SSID Doug Kosty doug.kosty@state.or.us |
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Oregon Department of Education
255 Capitol Street NE Salem, OR 97310-0203 |
(503) 947-5600 | Fax: (503) 378-5156
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