Bells rang across Galveston County on Thursday as students headed back into the classroom a week after the threat of Hurricane Rita forced schools to close.
While school officials focused on getting back to work, several local teachers said students could be heard sharing stories about the large-scale evacuation. Tammy Reed, a fifth-grade math teacher in the Texas City Independent School District, said some students in that district traveled as far as Oklahoma and Mexico.
“We knew the students would be talking about their experiences,” said Reed. “So we decided to have them write all of their stories down and we are going to share them with our other students.
“I think the first day back went very well. They were a little hyper at first, but they seemed to fall right back into the routine by about 10 a.m.”
Diana Reaume, principal of Ball High School in the Galveston Independent School District, said isle students at that campus also returned to school without a hitch.
“We really didn’t know what to expect, but the students seemed really happy to be back and they were all sharing their stories,” Reaume said. “For the most part, it was a very normal day. We did not ask the students to talk about their experiences, but if they wanted to talk about it we certainly let them do that. For the most part it was just a very quiet and calm day.”
Attendance at the high school was down by about 50 students, Reaume said. The campus also registered some new students from schools affected by the storm, including from the High Island school district that has been unable to open because of power outages, she said.
Almost all area schools closed Sept. 21 after county officials issued a mandatory evacuation as Rita appeared poised to hit near Galveston. Most schools decided not to reopen until Thursday — five days after the storm made landfall — because school officials wanted to give students ample time to return home.
“It took almost three days to evacuate, so we thought it was not unreasonable to give everyone a couple of days to get back,” said Adrain Johnson, superintendent of the La Marque Independent School District. “Plus, that gave us time to get our schools in order and ready for students to return.”
Johnson said transportation also factored into the decision not to resume classes immediately after the hurricane had passed.
“Our buses and many school buses across the county were used to evacuate people to shelters,” he said. “We had to allow enough time for those buses to return so we would have the necessary transportation for our students.”
