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Gulf Coast Schools Prepare to Reopen Amid Uncertainties

Katrina-hit districts await portables and wonder how many students will return.

With many Louisiana and Mississippi schools expected to open this week for the first time since Hurricane Katrina savaged the Gulf Coast, school leaders were working hard last week to prepare despite uncertainty over how many students would actually show up.

“I don’t think we’ll really know until Monday,” Oct. 3, said Carrolyn R. Hamilton, the superintendent of Long Beach school district in Mississippi, which had an enrollment of 3,200 students before the storm. “You just have to be patient and find out.”

Many school systems in southeastern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi have been closed since Katrina approached in late August. At least eight districts were expected to reopen schools this week, though not all buildings would be usable. Some other districts have already reopened, but in some of the hardest-hit areas, such as New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, no firm date has been...