By Jesse Wright

Jesse.wright@panews.com

By Jesse Wright &
Lorenzo Salinas
Jesse.wright@panews.com & l.v.salinas@panews.com
After weeks of delay, school doors finally opened for most of Port Arthur Independent School District.
Initially, the district had planned to kick off the school year the first week in September. However, extensive flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey left many workers and students stranded or displaced and some school buildings suffered extensive flooding damage.
While Lucian Adams Elementary and the district offices on 9th Avenue remain closed, for the most part the day started normally fro the district on Monday.
“I feel absolutely great,” said Superintendent Mark Porterie as he stood amid a rush of Memorial High School students Monday morning.
“It’s a wonderful day. We’ve got students here and teachers here as well,” he said.
Monday morning Porterie could not guess how many students would return, considering the thousands of residents who were displaced due to the flooding. However, by the end of the school day, he said he was happy with attendance.
“We really didn’t know how many students were going to show up,” Porterie said. “So, we were pleasantly surprised.
On Monday, 6,875 students showed up compared to about 8,000 who attended classes last year.
“We’re not sad; we’re happy that over three-fourths of our students showed up,” Porterie said.
The superintendent said he was equally pleased with faculty numbers. He said the vast majority of teachers showed up, even those who were displaced.
“We had some (displaced) teachers drive in from Baytown or Houston,” he said. “We’re happy to see them and are trying to find them locations.”
Still, some students have moved and will not be coming back.
Charles Nichols, a 10th grader, said his cousin’s family moved to Tennessee and they would not be back after they lost everything in Port Arthur.
Nichols said his family’s home was also damaged, but he was still ready for school.
“I just gotta keep going,” he said.
Asked about his first thoughts on returning to school, Nichols replied, “it’s cold.”
Alma January, another 10th grader, said she was glad to be back at school to see her friends and some new faces.
“Everyone looks so different and older and more mature,” she said.
January’s house was not affected, but other students had to deal with wholesale loss in the weeks leading up to the start of school.
One of those students was Marlen Gonzalez, a senior, said she lost all her school supplies and clothes in the storm.
Still, she said she managed to get replacement things in time for Monday’s opening.
“It feels normal,” she said. “If we had waited a little while longer (to return to school) we would have had more time to prepare for school, but I don’t mind coming back to school.”