Dear Superintendents, ESC Executive Directors, Board Members and Staff,
I do not have the words to adequately express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to each of
you for clearly going above and beyond the call of duty for the children and their families from
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You have shown our true Texas spirit of compassion, love
and generosity. I tell everyone that Texas educators and their boards automatically spring into
action when there is an emergency or when someone is in need. I have never been prouder in my
life as I hear daily about your continued acts of kindness to these innocent victims of Hurricane
Katrina.
As the days grow longer and the number of evacuees we enroll continues to increase, I know you
will have many questions: Where is the money coming from to serve these children? Will these
children become part of the Texas accountability system? Will they have to take TAKS? What
about the impact of AYP in your schools and districts? How long will the children and their
families stay? How can we guarantee the education of Texas children will continue to stay the
course? While these questions only begin to scratch the surface, please rest assured you will get
answers to every question as soon as we receive solid, validated answers.
We are very aware of the issues surrounding both state and federal accountability relative to the
impact of the huge influx of students from other states as result of Hurricane Katrina. I have sent
a letter to the U.S. Dept of Education making them aware of areas where federal flexibility will
be sought given this highly unusual circumstance for this school year in Texas. That letter
includes the need to reconsider how the federal accountability system, Adequate Yearly
Progress, accounts for individual students enrolled and tested in Texas public schools during the
2005-2006 school year. Similarly, I will be looking at potential accommodations that will need
to be made in the state system for accountability this school year. However, we should all focus
on making sure students get enrolled as quickly as possible in Texas public schools. There will
be plenty of time later to determine specifically how the state system of accountability will
respond to the special circumstances.
I have included several web links that you may find helpful. While they are rather lengthy in
nature, I thought it might be easier for you to receive all this information in one email. Dr. Carol
Francois, Dr. Judy Castleberry and Dr. Marianne Vaughan are heading up the TEA Hurricane
Katrina Disaster Response Team. Please check the TEA website daily for the latest information
regarding contact information and resources. I will continue to communicate to you via the
Executive Directors of our 20 ESC’s. They are doing a remarkable job expediting information to
you and they are to be commended.
I will ask you to continue reporting enrollment of children from our three sister states until we
have a solid, firm count to share with their home states and school districts. I know this is time
consuming, but please be patient a little while longer. We want to do everything possible to
enroll the children, secure their records from their home state and keep the lines of
communication open between Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I will also
respectfully request that you continue to funnel your campus and district questions through your
respective ESC so we can answer them all and share them collectively.
Thank you for your kind hearts, your many long hours of hard work and the prompt, professional
manner in which you have answered the call of a national emergency! I also want to take this
opportunity to thank Regions 4, 5, 10,13 and 20, for once again going above and beyond the call
duty for their immediate response to help manage the influx of thousands of students into their
regions. Additionally, I want to express my thanks to HCDE and Houston ISD for their
ongoing efforts on behalf of the large number of students housed in the Astrodome and area
shelters. Austin ISD and Dr. Pat Forgione have also been true Texas heroes to the thousands of
evacuees arriving in Austin. Our superintendents in Dallas and San Antonio and other areas of
Texas have also responded promptly and effectively when large numbers of evacuees arrived in
their cities and school districts.
We are in this together and together we will get through this terrible disaster in a way that makes
us stronger and prouder as a state and as a united school community. God bless you!
Sincerely,
Shirley J. Neeley
TEA Web Links:
TEA Request for USDE Waivers
for Responding to Hurricane
Katrina Evacuees
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/comm090905a1.pdf
USDE Secretary Spellings’ Letter
regarding key policy questions
related to Hurricane Katrina
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/comm090905a2.pdf
TEA Hurricane Task Force Web
Link
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/tea/hcane/genhurricaneinfo.html
Texas Health and Education
Commissioners' joint letter
regarding health issues related to
children displaced by Hurricane
Katrina
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/comm090905a3.pdf
TEA Letter to Texas Charter
Schools for serving students
displaced by Hurricane Katrina
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/comm090905a4.pdf