Harvey’s Havoc The Leader • Saturday, September 2, 2017 • Page 1B
HISD delays school until Sept. 11 From Staff Reports HISD delays school start until September 11 Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the entire Houston region, and Houston Independent School District has made a decision to delay the start of school. Per a tweet from the official HISD Twitter account, the first day of school for HISD students will be Monday, Sept. 11, weather & facility conditions permitting as the result of widespread displacement from the historic weather system that battered the Houston region from Friday until about Tuesday night.+ Administrative staff and principals will report to work Sept. 5, while teachers and all other staff will report on Sept. 8 in preparation for students’ returns. Due to widespread evacu-
ation, HISD will also be relaxing its school uniform until January 2018. Free student meals to be provided as result of Harvey The Houston Independent School District has received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture to waive the required application process for the National School Lunch/Breakfast Program. This decision means all HISD students will eat all school meals for free during the 2017-2018 school year. The decision comes in the wake of the devastation created by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. Despite the federal waiver, HISD is still asking parents and guardians to complete
and return the application. The National School Lunch/School Breakfast Program applications and surveys are available at https://mealapps. houstonisd.org. They can also be accessed by visiting the HISD Nutrition Services website and clicking on the “One Form Means So Much” button on the right side of the page. The information received in the forms helps the district to secure funding and track student data. “The flooding that is affecting the city of Houston has been devastating to so many. Some of the areas that are the hardest hit are filled with working parents whose limited funds will need to go toward recovery efforts,” said Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza. “This waiver will give our families one less concern as they begin the process of restoring their lives. It will also provide a sense of normalcy by
Roads to Rivers
allowing students to have access to up to three nutritious meals each and every school day.” Earlier this year, HISD certified 191 schools to participate in the Community Eligibility Program — giving nearly 123,955 students access to free lunch and breakfast. Just last week, the Texas Department of Agriculture approved the district’s application to offer free supper to all of the district’s students. This latest announcement supports the district’s goals of reducing food insecurity and providing food to as many students as possible. “It will take months, possibly years for the city to recover. We expect families to be displaced, students to attend new schools, and many of them possibly using alternative ways to travel See HISD P. 5B
Close call for some, others are flooded By Betsy Denson For The Leader What is certain is that no one in Houston has ever seen anything like Hurricane Harvey. With a year’s work worth of rainfall in a handful of days, officials expected heavy flooding but it was a waiting game for homeowners to see if their homes would stay dry. Lauren Benesh, who lives in Ella Lee Forest said that FEMA records show that their home had flooded several times since it was built in 1961, yet it didn’t this time. “We back up to a business on Pinemont and weren’t sure whether the improvements along that street over the last several years would be enough, but so far, they have been,” Benesh said. “But the water came right up on the door stoop.” A few homes in Ella Lee Forest, however, did take in water at the north side of Del Norte. Shepherd Park Plaza and Candlelight Plaza were similarly lucky although for many the water came up to their porches. Suzy D’Souza said that her husband Victor took a canoe ride through the neighborhood to check on neighbors but that no one needed assistance. Tiffany Janish in Sawyer Heights said that they were surrounded by water on the freeways but nothing near enough to her neighborhood to get in the house. Houses along White Oak Bayou in the Heights did take on water. While a majority of Oak Forest and Garden Oaks was spared there were flooded homes in Oak Forest along West TC Jester towards the railroad tracks on DuBarry, Woodcrest and Chippendale streets. Also, homes that border White Oak Bayou across from the T.C. Jester Park took on water as evidenced by the insulation, dry wall and furniture that residents have already hauled out to See CLOSE P. 4B
Luis Panameno captured this image from just south of the Heights looking back across I-10 into downtown Houston. Panameno had his camera out like so many people around the area, grabbing pictures of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. You can follow Panameno on Instagram at @lpana59
Paola Chavez stands in flood waters that ripped through her neighborhood during Hurricane Harvey. Her mother, Carolina Chavez, said that their house narrowly missed taking in water.