By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

 

Parents and families of students attending Staff Sergeant Lucian Adams Elementary School in Port Arthur were treated to a public information session held Thursday by PAISD officials at the Memorial High School auditorium.

Adams principal Cheryl Tripplett and others discussed the current status of the school, temporary accommodations for students, waivers for missed days and other school-related items.

“Adams did not get as much water as we thought,” superintendent Mark Porterie said. “There was some damage, but not as bad as we thought.”

One official said it would be another week and a half to two weeks before the drying process would be complete. After that, he could not give an exact date for when restoration work would be finished.

Tripplett said she and the administration are hoping to be back in Adams after Thanksgiving, when it would be open to students again.

As for what she called “a temporary solution to a temporary problem,” Tripplett issued the following school locations for displaced Adams students:

Pre-K through second grade students will attend Booker T. Washington Elementary School and third through fifth grade students will attend Dick Dowling Elementary School. Both campuses are located in Port Arthur.

Tripplett said the reason both schools were chosen was because both schools had the most room to accommodate Adams students.

“We know it will be an inconvenience for some, but it’s an inconvenience for us, too,” Tripplett said. “But our students need to go back to school. … This is a temporary solution for a temporary problem.”

She assured the gathered parents and families that school buses would run as usual and adhere to a schedule that would be available both on the school’s website and in the Sunday edition of The Port Arthur News.

“It’s not the building, the physical building, that makes the difference,” Tripplett said. “It’s the teachers that come to school each day. I know those same, caring teachers will be at Booker T. and Dowling.

“It’s the people that give your children the best education they can get.”

Tripplett answered audience questions, saying school days would be full class days from 8 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. and that special education students would be instructed at either Washington or Dowling, depending on their grades.

In a notable response, Tripplett informed parents and families that the Texas Education Agency had just approved the school district’s waiver for days missed due to Harvey. As a result, students (and parents) could expect to enjoy the same holiday, vacation and graduation dates as before.

Porterie later confirmed this, saying graduation for Memorial seniors would be held June 6, 2018 at the Montagne Center in Beaumont.

Importantly, Tripplett said the school start date for Adams students going to Washington and Dowling is Sept. 20, two days later than other PAISD schools.

The reason was to give faculty and staff extra time to move furniture and make other necessary arrangements, according to her.

Tripplett iterated the “dress standard” for pre-K through eighth students, encouraging students to wear uniforms if they have them but to otherwise adhere to the temporary standard set up by the school district.

She said the dress standard would be in effect until January, when the district returns after holidays, at which time school uniforms would be required once again.

Tripplett stressed that student backpacks must be either clear or mesh; no other types would be allowed. However, she also said arrangements would be made for those students who have no other option, citing the several items of school supplies being donated to the district and to Adams Elementary.

In student news, Tripplett informed parents and families that wherever they may be located at the time, to get with the administration or faculty and they would work with them accordingly.

She did not have data on the number of Adams students returning. She did, however, have a better figure for Adams staff and faculty that would be returning after Harvey.

“Just about all of them are coming back,” she said with a smile.