Opinion
School Climate & Safety Opinion

When Moving Too Quickly Fails: On Supporting Schools in the Pandemic

By Patrick Dobard — April 28, 2020 5 min read
Patrick Dobard, the CEO of New Schools for New Orleans, sits on the stoop of his childhood home in New Orleans in 2015, 10 years after the devastation wrought by Katrina.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In New Orleans, we know both crisis and resilience. And we also know this: In moments of disaster, people want to help. First responders go right to the source of the challenge and work to ensure public safety. Communities spring into action, too, which is a beautiful instinct. It is admirable and important.

After Hurricane Katrina, though, I learned a crucial lesson. When we take action in disasters, we cannot rush, no matter how tempting it is. We must make decisions with a clear mind.

In September 2005, I was the state official responsible for coordinating the donations coming into Louisiana. The American people were immensely generous; they were seeing images of New Orleans on the news and wanting desperately to help.

Unfortunately, sometimes that generosity did not match what we needed. People sent old desks and computers that we could not use in schools. We had winter coats in the summer heat. We had so many clothes and supplies, but we did not yet have the infrastructure to distribute them. Eighteen-wheelers arrived in Baton Rouge with donations, but managing such a high volume actually slowed our capacity to connect people to the resources.

I continue to push myself to look further ahead. It's what I wished I had done 15 years ago."

What we needed was funding. People had a strong emotional reaction to seeing waterlogged textbooks on TV, but sending us old textbooks did not help us; we needed money to buy the up-to-date supplies our children deserved.

If I could go back in time, I would tell people to wait. I would tell them to listen to what communities say they need and what they decide is the most effective way to help. Now, facing the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must do just that. The virus is wreaking havoc and taking lives; according to data from The New York Times as of April 23, Orleans Parish, where New Orleans is located, is in the top 20 counties nationwide for number of reported cases per capita, and at the start of April we were in the top five. As communities nationwide work to provide the most meaningful help they can in their own regions, I think three lessons I learned after Hurricane Katrina will be useful:

Communicate clearly and carefully: Be accurate and efficient with what you say. Right now, we are getting lots of information about the spread of and responses to COVID-19. Some of it is valuable. Some of it is less valuable. Some of it is outright false. If we are in a position to share our thoughts with others, we must do so carefully.

Listen before acting: Our schools will tell us what they need; we do not need to decide for them. Every school’s priority is their students, but they will have different ways they want to support them, and different tasks they choose to take on first.

Do not rush: We need not compound disaster with human error. Our instinct is, of course, to act quickly, because we are fueled by emotions. We must pause and work from a place of thoughtful, strategic consideration. Rushing wastes our time in the long term; moving with purpose ends up saving it.

Today, I lead the nonprofit New Schools for New Orleans, which strives to deliver on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans. We do this by helping expand and improve high-quality school options, facilitating schools’ use of standards-aligned curriculum and instruction, coordinating solutions to our city’s teacher recruitment and retention challenges, and supporting schools through work in education policy and communications. And since the COVID-19 crisis began, we have used the lessons I outline above. We have been listening to schools. We have been strategizing, not simply jumping into action. As a result, we have been able to directly respond to the schools’ needs.

Given that 83 percent of New Orleans public school students—all of whom attend public charter schools—come from economically disadvantaged households, we knew many of our students and families would face great challenges as a result of the pandemic: from food and housing insecurity to a lack of the internet access needed for distance learning. But we did not launch into a fundraising campaign or supply drive right away. We coordinated with school and district leaders to determine where we could be most useful.

Based on those conversations, we launched the New Orleans Technology Access Fund to help offset the cost of the NOLA public schools’ purchase of Wi-Fi hotspots. We also began providing clear, accurate communications amplifying local efforts and supports, like free meals and health care. We reached out to educators with resources on distance learning, and since we knew this crisis could impact schools’ finances, we made sure school leaders were aware of and understood federal loan opportunities through the CARES Act.

Our next step is to plan for a better New Orleans tomorrow. COVID-19 deepens our nation’s profound inequities in all respects, including those linked to race and income. In Louisiana, while just over 30 percent of our residents are black, as of April 20, 56 percent of those who have died from COVID-19 were black. Our response to this pandemic can either continue to exacerbate such inequities, or it can help reduce them. We must consider the immediate, intermediate, and long-term view, thinking of the impact of our actions in this moment and in years to come.

In New Orleans, we can consider that through talent, trauma, and technology in particular. New Orleans, like many urban districts, has been struggling to recruit and retain more great teachers, and even when interviewing candidates in person is not possible, we can’t let up on this effort. Many of our students have experienced trauma, and now they are facing new traumas and having old ones triggered. We need both immediate and longer-term responses. The same can be said for technology. Not all children in New Orleans have the access to technology they need to learn while schools are closed and to get a 21st-century education when schools reopen. I am motivated to make sure that, if another crisis occurs, there is less inequity in its impact. I continue to push myself to look further ahead. It’s what I wished I had done 15 years ago.

There is still a long way to go, but we will make it through this. Across our city, I see examples of thoughtful, productive responses, and this gives me great hope.

If we stick together (while physically apart), listen to each other, resist the desire to rush into action, and think ahead, we will be able to support our students in ways that keep them safe, help them learn, and provide some stability in these unstable times.

A version of this essay was previously published on the website of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

A version of this article appeared in the May 13, 2020 edition of Education Week as What We Can Still Learn From Hurricane Katrina

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety States Emphasize School Violence Prevention, Not Just Security
In the wake of school shootings in their states last year, legislators hope to avert future tragedies.
7 min read
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa.
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa. The deaths in school shootings last year have led to new legislation in a half-dozen states.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
School Climate & Safety Leader To Learn From One Leader’s Plan to Cut Chronic Absenteeism—One Student at a Time
Naomi Tolentino helps educators in Kansas City, Kan., support strong school attendance.
9 min read
Naomi Tolentino Miranda leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino Miranda showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Naomi Tolentino leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Erin Woodiel for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Q&A What a 'Positive, Proactive Approach' to Chronic Absenteeism Looks Like
A Kansas City, Kan., leader explains how her district shifted its approach to chronic absenteeism.
6 min read
Naomi Tolentino Miranda walks into J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino Miranda is the Coordinator for Student Support Programs and often visits school administrative teams to check on their progress combating chronic absenteeism among their students.
Naomi Tolentino walks into J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025, in Kansas City, Kan. Tolentino is the coordinator for student support programs and often visits school administrative teams to check on their progress in lowering chronic absenteeism among their students.
Erin Woodiel for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion Schools Can’t Just ‘Return to Normal’ After a Climate Disaster
This is what’s missing when education leaders urge schools to return to normalcy too soon after crises or disasters.
Jaleel R. Howard & Sam Blanchard
5 min read
A jungle gym melted and destroyed by the Eaton Fire is seen at a school, Jan. 15, 2025, in Altadena, Calif.
The Easton Fire melted a jungle gym outside a school in Altadena, Calif.
John Locher/AP