Storm-hit Florida schools resuming their activities

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. -- The Lemon Bay Manta Rays were not going to let a hurricane get in the way of football. On Friday, they headed to their practice field for the first time in eight days, even though classes are not scheduled to start for more than a week and the school is housing firefighters, police officers and, coach Mike Messina warned the players in his pep talk, vicious police dogs in undisclosed classroom locations.

"I don't want people to think I don't know there's a lot more important things going on," Messina said before the players arrived. "But it's a good thing for these kids to have some structure and get on with something that's important in their life."

And then there's the kickoff classic against Venice High School in seven days. "It gives us a sense of urgency," the coach said.

Lemon Bay High School, in Englewood, is one of Charlotte County's 21 schools, seven of which were destroyed by Hurricane Charley on Aug. 13. As in many of the counties affected by the storm, classes here will not start until Aug. 30.

Those schools in Charlotte that could manage resumed extracurricular activities Friday -- at Lemon Bay, which was relatively undamaged, the swim team also practiced and the band played. In the meantime, school officials throughout the hurricane- ravaged zone are contending with damaged buildings, homeless teachers, traumatized students, cafeterias full of spoiled food and the logistical nightmare of reconfiguring bus routes.

"It's an amazing task because a lot of the roads are still difficult to get buses down, and some entire portions of the community are gone," said Ken Leupold, a teacher and volleyball coach at Hardee High School in Hardee County, who is also working at the county's Emergency Management Office this week.

In Osceola County, all of the 59 schools were damaged. In Charlotte County, elementary school will be held in two shifts, the first beginning at 7 a.m. and the second ending at 5 p.m. In DeSoto County, downed power lines are still blocking bus routes.

The school cancellations had other effects as well. Across the affected region, 107,000 low-income students went without the free meals for which they qualified, said Lora Gilbert, the food services director for Orange County schools, which suffered $9 million in damage.

On Friday, Gov. Jeb Bush visited three schools in the hurricane zone, issuing an executive order suspending certain state requirements limiting class size and requiring 180 days of instruction for those counties that applied for waivers.

"I appreciate the efforts of all who have worked so hard to provide Florida's students with a sense of normalcy and a safe place to learn in the wake of Hurricane Charley," Bush said.His office said in a news release that despite the fact that Hurricane Andrew 12 years ago had caused less school damage than Charley, children would resume class three weeks sooner this time around.

Beyond the logistics of getting the students there, there is the problem of making sure they learn. "We've got to get them back in a mind-set to learn, and that's going to take a little bit of time," said Adrian H. Cline, the superintendent of schools in DeSoto County.

In Polk County, teachers at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary salvaged what they could on Friday, carrying usable supplies to the cafeteria. The school, whose roof was peeled back, will reopen at a rented church in Frostproof.

Many school officials said they were preparing counselors and training teachers how to address trauma with children. In Charlotte County, officials decided to restart sports and clubs because they thought it would give students a sense of normalcy. "That's part of our community: the bands, the clubs, the athletics," said Mike Riley, the school board spokesman.

But in DeSoto County, Cline said he had not had time yet to think about extracurriculars. "Right now I've got the visitor stands out in the middle of the field," he said.

The storm did $6 million worth of damage to DeSoto's seven schools, which usually serve nearly 5,000 students.

Cline said he did not know how many families had left the area, either temporarily or permanently, because of the storm. "I don't know, for example, for our migrant population what it might do to that," he said. "There's so much damage to the orange crop."

He added, "The other issue that I think any district is also facing -- this is the time that property tax notices go out, and there is some concern of people receiving property tax notices on a home that is no longer there."

Many of the students said they were enjoying an extra little bit of summer, even those who spent it working at shelters or clearing yards of debris.

"We're happy we're missing class," said Mike Saponara, a defensive end for the Manta Rays. "We just play football and don't go to class - - it's like we're in the NFL."

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