Navigating the fallout from a natural disaster like a wildfire or hurricane is a complex process for school district leaders—especially if it’s their first experience attempting to secure federal financial assistance for recovery efforts.
And as climate change increasingly causes more severe natural disasters and emergencies like large wildfires, extreme heat and cold, and intense storms, more districts may need to seek funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, in the years to come to pay for facility repairs, debris removal, or temporary classroom facilities.
Leaders from three districts who have navigated the aftermath of natural disasters shared their top tips for other district leaders to remember in a similar situation during a Dec. 9 webinar hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
The district leaders said it’s critical that leaders remember to be extremely thorough in their documentation, keep meticulous track of funding sources, and retain documentation for several years. (The leaders also shared advice to help districts prepare for disasters before they strike.)
Be as detailed as possible when gathering documentation and evidence
The district leaders emphasized the importance of being meticulous when gathering evidence of and documenting damage caused by the natural disaster. Kayla Smith, executive director of finance for the Katy school district in Texas, said it’s critical to take clear photographs and videos of damage from all angles, both before and after repairs are done.
District staff should also document the exact locations of damage, including specific addresses. Sometimes, FEMA requires such specific documentation that it’s necessary to provide the exact GPS coordinates of the damage, she said. FEMA funding becomes available when there’s a presidential disaster declaration.
It’s also important to be extremely specific about how the damage occurred, she said. It’s not enough, for example, to say a building sustained water damage. Documentation should specify, for example, whether the damage was caused by pooling or rising water, or wind-blown rain, Smith said.
Then, it’s critical that repairs are thoroughly documented, too. District officials should keep track of every step taken—dates, parts purchased, labor time and costs, and any other related information, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, she said.
District leaders may also consider partnering with “disaster recovery specialists” to help them manage and navigate the claims process, she said. It’s possible FEMA may deny some claims, but districts can appeal, and specialists can help districts maximize reimbursements.
“There are businesses that specialize in that process and assisting others,” Smith said. “They helped us a lot with appeals processes.”
Track funding sources for all related projects, and don’t assume something isn’t covered
When disaster strikes, financial support for recovery may come from a variety of different agencies at the local, state, and federal levels, so it’s important for districts to keep track of how they’re spending money from each agency, said Karen Smith, chief financial officer of the Cypress-Fairbanks school district in Texas.
Such scrupulous documentation plays a key role in helping districts maximize the recovery funds they’re eligible to receive.
Different agencies will likely have different restrictions on the money they release to districts, so district leaders should be as clear as possible from the outset on what’s allowed and reimbursable. Then, if one agency says a district can use its funding to cover the costs of both mold remediation and debris removal, and another says its funds can only be spent on mold remediation, district leaders can allocate their reimbursements to maximize payouts, Smith said.
Smith cautioned districts against selling themselves short by assuming something small won’t be covered or eligible for reimbursement.
“It’s real easy once in a while to think something might not be covered when in reality you might be able to get some reimbursements for those costs,” she said.
Set up a control center, if possible
When the Camp Fire tore through northern California in 2018, Mary Sakuma, the county superintendent of schools in Oroville, found setting up a central hub for essential staff to gather was particularly helpful. The Camp Fire—the deadliest wildfire in state history that burned more than 150,000 acres, killed 85 people, and effectively wiped out the town of Paradise, which is located in Sakuma’s district—destroyed dozens of schools, leaving many staffers “without a place to go.”
The district established a “control center” in a county office building where staff gathered what they needed, like essential paperwork; processed payroll, debriefed, and did anything else that required electricity.
Sakuma and other staff members with essential jobs met twice daily and “worked closely … to make sure any unmet needs were sent up the chain and addressed,” she said.
Keep all documents until ‘right to audit’ deadline passes
FEMA and other agencies that provide disaster recovery funds have requirements related to how long recipients should keep documentation related to money they received and how they used it, said Karen Smith, in the Cypress-Fairbanks district.
Districts should take those requirements seriously and ensure they keep that documentation for as long as it is required, she said.
Her district received federal funding to help recover from damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and the “right to audit” lasted five years, Smith said. In other words, FEMA had the right for years afterward to examine the district’s books related to its use of federal disaster funding.
“One month before the end of that five years, they requested information and then it continued in a back-and-forth for a year-and-a-half,” she said. “Some of the people [in charge in 2017] had left the district by the time the auditors were asking questions, and we were having a hard time answering their questions, so we had to return some money.”
She said her experience should serve as a cautionary tale for others, reinforcing the need to keep thorough documentation and ensure there’s always somebody on staff who understands and can answer questions about it.
