09:26 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Associated Press

St. Bernard Parish -- nearly completely submerged by Hurricane Katrina -- dashed some hopes that life would return to normal anytime soon, announcing that children probably won't be able to return to the parish's schools this school year.

New Orleans' school system was devastated by the storm, and officials are still just trying to piece together financial records. But the city's neighboring parishes also were hard hit, with students in most areas urged to enroll in schools where they evacuated until power can be restored, water can be drained and schools are decontaminated.

Nearly all the schools in St. Bernard, a low-lying parish southeast of New Orleans, were flooded or at some point under water from the storm. Teachers and school system staff will get another paycheck this month but nothing else was promised, according to information posted on the state education department Web site.

"Almost all of our schools have been under water, and we will not, in all likelihood, be fully operational this school year. Therefore, if you can find employment, secure it. If not, file for unemployment benefits," the St. Bernard Parish school system message said.

In Plaquemines Parish, a coastal strip of land jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico, six of the nine public schools are flooded, but officials say they hope to get schools running by next month.

To the west of New Orleans, the suburban Jefferson Parish isn't expecting to re-open most schools until January.

"Parents and guardians should enroll their children in schools where their families are currently housed," said Diane Roussel, superintendent of the school system.

Meanwhile, St. Tammany Parish, to the north of New Orleans, still is hoping to start school in most reaches of the parish by Oct. 3, although it's unlikely to begin in Slidell at that time because much of the city was hard hit by Katrina.

"We have assessed our schools and support facilities and found varying degrees of damage at some sites. Work is underway preparing schools to reopen. As soon as electricity and other essentials can be restored to schools, we hope to get ready to resume classes," Gayle Sloan, parish schools superintendent, said in a letter posted with the Department of Education.

New Orleans Interim Superintendent Ora Watson is more optimistic than Jefferson Parish officials, even though significant portions of Orleans Parish are under water.

She said schools in areas like Algiers and some parts of uptown New Orleans that weren't hard hit by the storm could be open in about six weeks. It was unclear how that could happen with power outages estimated to last months and public health officials warning even the soil in areas that weren't flooded could be contaminated.

"I'm going to work to have schools running some time this year," Watson said.

Cecil Picard, state superintendent of education, said "this year" in Orleans Parish, however, will mean "maybe this school year, but I wouldn't think this calendar year."

Eight schools out of 127 schools in Orleans Parish weren't flooded by Katrina, Picard said.

For those students displaced by the storm, Picard urged parents to enroll them in schools as soon as possible, wherever they are. He said most of those students are ending up in the Lafayette and East Baton Rouge Parish school systems.