NEW ORLEANS — Parents with students in Orleans Parish and teachers in Jefferson Parish are asking why school wasn't canceled Wednesday. Teachers in Jefferson Parish are asking why the district canceled school for the solar eclipse but not severe weather.
Dominque Barr's 13 and 11-year-olds attend Andrew Wilson Charter School in New Orleans. Barr told WWL Louisiana, "Once I got all the tornado warnings on my phone around 10 a.m. until noon, I began to get worried."
She says if students miss too many days, they risk having to attend summer school, so she sent them because school wasn't cancelled.
A video was taken from the second floor of the school; it shows the flooding and what Barr had to travel through to get to her kids. Barr said, "I left the house at 12:30 p.m. to go and get the children, and literally every street that I turned on was high water."
She says the water was up to her knees. "There were kids whose parents were walking out carrying them, little bitty babies that if they walked in that water, it would have been over their chest."
Teachers in Jefferson Parish are asking why the wasn't school canceled after the severe weather predictions were released.
Sandra Hauer with the Jefferson Federation of Teachers said, "Yet Monday, we're dismissed for a solar eclipse." She went on to say, "The end result was flooded streets, students unable to leave the school sites, parents unable to reach their children, employees unable to tend to their own families, and then they had students stranded at schools waiting for them to pick them up."
Hauer says school was canceled for the eclipse but not for a weather emergency. "My biggest fear is that next time people will take a sick day or not report to work, and then who's going to be at school for the students."
Parents put a big deal of trust in teachers, Hauer said, "I had teachers calling, "I have to go move my car, my car is flooding where do I put it?" She says but when their safety is also put at risk, "They deserve the best because they give our students the best."
Teachers and parents alike are asking who's looking out for our kids. "You're not expecting your child to be fighting through water, and anything could've been in that water—gators, snakes—it was very dangerous," said Barr.
Jefferson Parish Schools said in a statement, "Jefferson Parish Schools dismissed students early on Monday due to the timing of the eclipse. The majority of our students would have been dismissed during the eclipse. Viewing a solar eclipse directly or through a camera lens, telescope, or binoculars without proper eye protection can be harmful to the eyes, and we wanted to ensure that our students were as safe as possible. Jefferson Parish Schools dismissed students late on Wednesday due to a flash flood emergency. Jefferson Parish was under a flash flood emergency that overlapped with school dismissal time. We worked with the parish government to ensure all students and staff stayed off the road during the flash flood emergency and remained safe."
InspireNOLA Charter Schools said, “InspireNOLA Charter Schools and numerous partner schools throughout Orleans and Jefferson parishes followed all safety measures and regulations for the students and staff members during yesterday’s weather event. All InspireNOLA students and staff members arrived to school and returned home safely. We continue to prioritize creating a safe learning environment for our school community.”
Nola Public Schools, "In accordance with weather updates from the National Weather Service, NOLA Public Schools initially determined that severe weather would not pose a risk in the morning but could become problematic later in the day. Based on this assessment, the recommendation was to cancel after school activities. However, the extent of flooding that ensued and its impact on afternoon travel was unforeseen. As the only all-charter school system in the nation, it’s important to note that our schools have the autonomy to make operational decisions, including individual decisions to temporarily close. Please see the statute below.
Per La. R.S. 17:10.7.1 F (3) Be authorized to require one or more charter schools under the school board's jurisdiction to temporarily close, dismiss students, or evacuate in the event that there are credible threats of terror, or an official state of emergency is declared for the area in which any school under the board's jurisdiction is located.
Going forward, the district remains committed to improving its weather-related protocols by continuously evaluating and refining its response based on the most up-to-date weather information available."