Local schools still waiting for evacuee reimbursement

When Southeast Texas schools took in 22,000 students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the federal government promised it would reimburse the schools for most of the cost of educating the kids. But it seems the government isn't holding up its end of the deal yet:

Karen Soehnge, the chief academic officer for the Houston school district, said the U.S. Department of Education had assured the district it would be reimbursed for 90 percent of the costs of educating refugees. So far, she said, the federal government has sent $165,000, less than one day's cost.

The district is spending about $190,000 a day on refugee children, an estimated $35 million for the school year for the approximately 6,000 children who have joined the district, she said.

Mayor Bill White and HISD officials are calling either for federal legislation directing money to local school districts before Congress adjourns for the year or for FEMA to release disaster assistance funds to school districts. Federal funding for evacuee education is included in a bill that's passed the House and Senate, but a conference committee is working out changes. On the FEMA side, though President Bush has proposed $2.6 billion in school aid, the agency is now working on rebuilding schools damaged by the storm.

And that leaves HISD spending millions of dollars, wondering when it'll get paid back, in a state where education funding is already stretched thin. The evacuee students need textbooks, tutoring and counseling, testing and innoculations, but where's the money coming from? No one seems to know, and officials worry Congress will adjourn for the holidays without doing anything to help. That could lead to services being cut for all students — seems everyone hurts when the government drags its feet.