In a previous blog, I talked about my impending return to New Orleans in June. This past Saturday, I met with the contractor who is going to do the work on my house, thus setting the wheels in motion for my return. I never realized there was so much involved (not to mention the cost) when renovating a home. When I bought my house seven years ago it was in move-in condition and before Katrina the only other thing I’ve had to do to it was convert one of the three bedrooms into a child’s room when Tyler came along. I’ll share some of the things I’m learning about the whole renovations process as I go along.
One of the things I mentioned earlier was my concern for Tyler’s emotional well being. I am pleased to report that although things are still moving slowly there has been much progress since I last went home in March. Sadly, a lot of businesses have not reopened but families are started to move back. My house is located on a street that is just one block long and most of my neighbors have returned which makes me feel much better. Most are living in trailers on their property, while some have completed the renovations and are back in their homes. There were also trailers all over and I saw many people working while I was there and the traffic was much heavier than any of the previous times I have gone home. The other thing that I noticed is things looked normal, colorful. The first few times I went home everything looked like an old black and white photo.
But there are new concerns that I have as a parent and that is the public school situation, which at this point looks bleak. The school system lacks teachers and substitutes, not to mention, in some cases, books and other supplies. Some schools have to share campuses. In one case, for instance, students attend classes from 7 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. and then another school takes over the campus from 1:15 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
The state-run Recovery School District has opened just 17 of the 107 schools it took over from the Orleans Parish School Board. 53 public schools (including the Recovery schools, charter schools and schools the parish still controls) are now open, with 24,000 students attending. At present students can attend schools in any of the schools that are open. This in itself has caused problems between students from rival schools who are now attending the same schools.
Many teachers have quit because of disciplinary problems they are encountering from students. Some have quit after just a day or two. One teacher reported being cursed at, some say students are not paying attention and others report that students are talking over them while they are trying to teach. Other teachers have complained about having to use their own money to buy supplies and even refrigerators for the teachers’ lounge.
So now, on top of everything else I have to find a way to pay for a private school for Tyler. I can’t see sending him to a public school with things the way they are. Especially in light of the good news I received on Friday. He scored a perfect 100 on the first part of the standarized tests they are taking.
Before Katrina I had hoped to get him into one of the magnet schools run by the public school system. Since the kids are all gifted, the behavior problems you find in the public school system basically does not exist. But most of these schools have not reopened. Frankly, I can’t afford private school tuition but I can’t afford to allow my child to attend a school where he won’t be able to learn because of other factors. So in addition to figuring out things like what color I want the rooms to be and what color tile and carpet I want, I also have to figure out how I’m going to pay to send my son to a private school. But somehow, I know things are going to work out. No matter how bleak things look if you think positive things always work out.