Vernon, Keenen

Writing Sample

This is an excerpt from my recent research paper titled ​The Impact of Hurricane Irma & Maria
on Florida’s School Districts

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of Hurricane Irma and Maria on Florida’s school
districts, including the impact of providing emergency resources, sheltering citizens, and
enrolling displaced students. Educating displaced students and recovering resources from both
hurricanes is a continuing concern. The study provides recommendations that are useful in
evaluating the areas of improvement for future policy and practice regarding hurricane response
and emergency management protocol.

Introduction

As daunting as hurricanes may be, Florida is no stranger to major hurricanes and tropical storms.
From 2000 to the present, Florida has been affected by over 79 tropical storms​.​ These storms
have resulted in billions of dollars in damages to Florida’s infrastructure, including roads,
bridges, coastal waterways, and most importantly, schools. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma
posed an imminent threat to the state and local communities. For days residents and state
officials watched as Hurricane Irma hit South Florida and swept through the state. The storm
dramatically tested Florida’s emergency response and preparedness and the state’s ability to
respond to extreme weather events. In the days prior to Hurricane Irma, the nation watched as
Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas. This was the first time in history that two Category 4
hurricanes made landfall in the United States during the same hurricane season.

Although Hurricane Maria did not make landfall in Florida, the storm impacted Puerto Rico and
the U.S. Virgin Islands and have significantly affected the region. The hurricane devastated the
Caribbean, destroyed communities, and left many people without power for months. The United
States hurried to accommodate a massive influx of hurricane victims from the U.S. territories and
Caribbean islands. However, the mass migration of people had the biggest effect on Florida.
Florida’s school districts, in particular, were not only overwhelmed by providing community
shelters but also from having to immediately enroll thousands of displaced students. As
hurricanes become inevitably more dangerous, Florida must reevaluate and adopt emergency
management policies and procedures that will better assist school districts and local
communities.

Analysis of Impact on Florida’s School Districts

The impact of Hurricane Irma and Maria caused widespread tension amongst school districts.
Many public schools across the state were required to provide facilities for hurricane shelters and
emergency response centers. Florida law requires all public facilities, including “schools,
postsecondary education facilities, and other facilities owned or leased by the state or local
governments,” suitable for handling a hurricane shelter to be made available at the request of
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local emergency management agencies (Emergency Management: General Provisions, 2012,

Florida Statutes). However, most charter schools, colleges, and universities are not built to
withstand emergency sheltering for their entire community. School districts had to mainly endure
the responsibility of sheltering the community while ensuring that school facilities were safe and
maintained to emergency shelter requirements, as required by Florida statutes. The Florida
Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) lobbied the Florida Legislature this
year to increase the capital improvement millage to help school districts meet their capital needs,
particularly in serving as public shelters (Florida Association of District Schools: Legislative
Platform, 2018). However, within the Florida Education Finance Plan (FEFP), the required
millage rate still remained the same for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. This deficit will undoubtedly
prevent maintenance, repairs, and the upkeep of building systems (i.e. HVAC, lighting,
generators) that schools need in order to ensure compliance with emergency shelter
requirements. In previous years, school districts could shift around extra funds to fund major
building-related projects. This will not be the case for many school districts this year. The cost of
sheltering citizens from all over the state has since consumed school districts’ excess funding.

During Hurricane Irma, school districts were also unequipped with the necessary tools to shelter
individuals with special needs and those who brought service animals. Many shelters were
already at capacity from the general population and understaffed without essential personnel (e.g.
school administrators, law enforcement officers, medical professionals). Some counties did
provide shelters to serve individuals with special needs but some of these individuals still went to
school shelters. In those cases, individuals often needed care that far exceeded the basic first aid
equipment provided at school shelters. Unfortunately, most schools did not also have the
required personnel and equipment to properly care for individuals with special needs. Many
individuals also showed up to school shelters without the proper paperwork needed to shelter
their pets and service animals. Service animals are permitted within public areas in general
population shelters as long as the pet meets registration and vaccination requirements. On the
other hand, non-service animals must be kept in designated space that provides crates. Although
some school shelters were prepared to shelter animals, others were not prepared to provide
accommodations to all pet owners. The shelters that did provide accommodations incurred an
additional cost of the necessary cleanup and sanitization afterwards. While struggling to serve
evacuees from all the over the state, school shelters faced an additional challenge of limited
resources. The most complex issues involved the availability of generators, lack of power,
delivery of food and supplies, and the need for adequately trained staff (e.g. law enforcement
officers and medical personnel). Despite facing a myriad of issues, school districts managed to
serve their communities. Even so, emergency management procedures need to be reviewed and
strengthened to ensure the safety of all citizens.

Another challenge arose for school districts as thousands of displaced students migrated from
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and began enrolling in public schools. In his press release,
Governor Scott ordered the Florida Department of Education (DOE) “to waive certain rules and
regulations for displaced students impacted by the [hurricane] to be able to continue their
education in Florida” ("Gov. Scott Directs Florida Department of Education to Take Additional
Action to Help Puerto Rican Students and Educators", 2017). The Governor also directed the
Department of Education to waive certain education certification requirements for displaced

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educators to have an opportunity to continue their teaching career in Florida. As directed, the
Department of Education sent out numerous memos on their website to address these concerns.
The first memo allowed school districts to enroll displaced students without any necessary
documentation, including student transcripts, health-examination records, and proof of age.
However, this became an issue for school districts when determining a student’s attendance
eligibility, grade level, and coursework. High school students without documentation seeking to
earn a diploma faced the most issues. In response, Florida Commissioner of Education Pam
Stewart sent a letter of commitment to the Puerto Rico Secretary of Education in assurance that
“Florida schools would provide a successful pathway for displaced Puerto Rican juniors and
seniors to complete their curriculum and earn a Puerto Rican high school diploma”. However,
school districts continued to face major issues with enrollment because many students arrived
without transcripts and did not speak English fluently.

The cost of educating these students has been a growing challenge. The main concern has been
accounting for displaced students in order for school districts to receive the accurate amount of
full-time equivalent (FTE) funding for the 2017-2018 fiscal year and beyond. Many of the
displaced students spoke English as a second-language qualifying them as English Language
Learners (ELLs), but this posed an added concern for superintendents to find resources needed to
hire teachers who can teach English. School districts had to also worry about confirming their
compliance with the mandated class size requirement. Florida law sets certain limits on the
maximum number of students in core classes in public schools such as math and reading (K-20
Education Code: General Provisions, 2012, Florida Statutes). The Commissioner of Education
was able to waive the class size penalty in order to accomodate displaced students. Even so, an
avenue for additional statutory and rule waivers should be provided to address the influx of new
students and increased costs of education. School districts have needed to hire more bus drivers,
teachers, and support staff in response to the unexpected increase of students.

The aftermath of both hurricanes not only impacted school districts’ resources but also resulted
in a heavy loss of required instructional hours. Florida law requires schools to operate for 180
actual teaching days or the equivalent on an hourly basis to receiving funding from the Florida
Education Finance Program (K-20 Education Code: Funding for School Districts, 2012, Florida
Statutes). Many school districts had to remain closed for a few days because of damage and
cleanup efforts. This time loss would have been very difficult to make-up for in instructional
hours. In order to for school districts to meet compliance requirements and avoid the risk of
losing their funding, Commissioner Stewart authorized a waiver of up to two days of
instructional time. For the school districts that needed to waive any additional time, they were
allowed to request a waiver of reduction in the required instructional hours through the
Department of Education’s website. The Governor, in collaboration with the Department of
Education, also worked together to facilitate the enrollment and recovery efforts of Puerto Rico
and Florida students displaced by the hurricanes. The Department of Education also took steps to
provide remote access to educational materials for Florida students through the Florida Virtual
School. However, educating displaced students impacted by the hurricanes has continued to put a
strain school districts’ resources. Schools need more capital and operational funding in order to
offset the cost of enrolling and educating the high number of displaced students.

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Policy Discussion

State Action: In response to Hurricane Irma, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
Richard Corcoran formed the House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness.
The committee was tasked with gathering information, soliciting ideas for improvement, and
developing recommendations to the executive branch to address hurricane response and
preparedness. The Speaker directed the committee to make recommendations on the following
list of topics: (a) Avoiding and Mitigating Future Storm Damage, (b) Public Safety, (c)
Evacuation, (d) Critical Worker and Employee Protections, (e) Medical Facilities, (f) Utilities,
(g) School Closures, (h) Necessities, (i) Reconstruction, (j) Tax Relief, and (k) Insurance and
Banking (Florida House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness, 2018, pg.
9). The committee members also provided suggestions on legislative action that should be
considered during the 2018 Legislative Session. Following an extensive analysis of emergency
management policy, the Select committee adopted a list of 77 proposed recommendations for
further consideration and committee review. For purposes of this study, we will summarize the
recommendations as it relates to to K-12 and higher education in the next section of this paper.

During the 2018 Florida Legislative Session, House and Senate members also passed legislation
to improve hurricane preparedness and relief efforts across the state. On March 23, 2018,
Governor Scott signed House Bill (HB) 7087 into law, which provides for specific sales tax
reductions and exemptions. The bill established a seven-day sales tax holiday from June 1, 2018,
through June 7, 2018, for certain items used for hurricane and other disaster preparations
(Chapter No. 2018-118, Laws of Florida). Unfortunately, money was not appropriated to school
districts to address their shelter needs and enrollment issues. The base student allocation
increased by a small amount of $0.47 in the Florida Educational Finance Program (FEFP). As we
know, the FEFP is what largely funds Florida’s 67 school districts. There was a lot of legislative
appropriations shifted into the FEFP’s program, but for safe schools and mental health as a
response to the mass shooting in Parkland, FL. On March 9, 2018, Governor Scott signed Senate
Bill (SB) 7026 into law, which addressed public safety and school security. The bill appropriated
$97,500,000 in recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund for the safe schools allocation
and $69,237,286 for the mental health allocation (Chapter No. 2018-003, Laws of Florida). The
Department of Education has also been issued roughly $100 million to establish a grant program
for districts to apply for school hardening projects. School districts are, however, limited to
requesting these grant funds for security measures such as school fencing, bullet-proof windows,
school resource officers and mental health services, to name a few.

There were a few other legislative bills that seeked to address disaster preparedness and response
issues. Senator Bill Montford sponsored Senate Bill (SB) 1006, which would have modified
certain components of the state comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP), assigned
additional responsibilities to the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), and
enhanced the participation of state colleges and universities during emergencies. The bill passed
the Senate Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security but
unfortunately died in Appropriations. Another similar bill to SB 1006, HB 1447 by
Representative Ramon Alexander, would have defined the term “comfort animal” in statute,

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provided guidance to local governments to ensure reimbursements from the Federal Government
for disaster-related expenditures, and revised requirements for the development of strategies for
sheltering individuals; but it was never considered in the House Committee on Oversight,
Transparency & Administration Subcommittee. Nonetheless, it appears that improving hurricane
response and emergency management policy was not the intent of this year’s legislators.
Consequently, school districts will have to deal with existing pressures from lack of available
funding and need to continually to advocate for resources and policies that provide guidance in
disaster-related situations.

Federal Action: After months of lobbying to Congress, Governor Scott was able to secure federal
relief for Florida. The funding provided will be used to help with the recovery of Florida’s citrus
industry, support local communities and businesses, and aid in Puerto Rico’s relief efforts. A
total of $89.3 billion was allocated to the federal disaster fund. Specifically, $3.6 billion will be
used for the citrus and agriculture industries, $17.39 billion will be used to repair the Herbert
Hoover Dike, $1.65 billion will be used to provide loans to businesses, $23.5 billion will be
provided to FEMA to help fund Florida’s recovery efforts, $2.46 billion will be provided to the
U.S. Department of Education to help support displaced students from Puerto Rico enrolled in
public schools, and $28 billion will be used to assist with the rebuilding and repairing of
Florida’s homes, businesses, and local communities ("Governor Scott: After Months of
Advocating, Federal Disaster Relief Heading to Florida", 2018)​.

Recommendations

Florida’s state and local emergency management agencies should consider adopting new
strategies to improve the state’s hurricane preparedness and response capabilities. As hurricanes
become increasingly dangerous, as seen in the recent hurricane season, it is crucial for state and
local officials to adopt emergency management policies that will better assist their communities.
Florida's school districts, in particular, need supplementary funding to maintain emergency
facilities and equipment, provide disaster relief, and help students in the event of a major
hurricane or other natural disasters. The following list of policy recommendations includes
feedback from the Florida House of Representatives Select Committee on Hurricane Response
and Preparedness and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents on issues
related to education:
● State colleges, universities, and charter schools should be required to provide facilities,
necessary personnel, and transportation assistance during a state or local emergency.
● Specific funds should be made available at the state-level to reimburse school districts for
disaster-related expenses related to sheltering and other services provided to citizens,
until federal assistance becomes available.
● State grant programs should be provided for school districts to request additional capital
funding and equipment as it relates to emergency shelter requirements.
● Financial assistance at the state and/or federal level should be provided to assist school
districts in purchasing generators and other emergency-related equipment to aid schools
that have been designated as public shelters.

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● Information regarding the availability and different types of shelters (e.g. special needs,
pet-friendly) should be made readily available several days in advance of a declared
emergency.
● Local emergency management agencies should be required to review their emergency
management policies annually and develop a yearly public awareness campaign to share
information regarding disaster plans and procedures with the community.
● Health care practitioners, professionals, and nursing students should be recruited to
volunteer in shelters.
● Additional statutory and rule waivers should be provided to school districts in order to
address the fluctuation in student populations and additional needs during and after a
hurricane.
● Additional financial resources should be provided to school districts that are greatly
impacted by an increased percentage of student enrollment, resulting from a declared
state or local emergency.

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References

Emergency Management: General Provisions, Fla. Stat. ​§ ​252.31-252.63 (2012)

Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott. (2017). Governor Scott Closes All K-12 Public
Schools, State Colleges, State Universities and State Offices to Begin Preparations
Immediately [Press release]. Retrieved February 05, 18, from
https://www.flgov.com/2017/09/07/governor-scott-closes-all-k-12-public-schools-state-c
olleges-state-universities-and-state-offices-to-begin-preparations-immediately/
Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott. (2017). Gov. Scott Declares State of
Emergency for Hurricane Maria to Support Puerto Rico [Press release]. Retrieved
February 5, 2018, from
https://www.flgov.com/2017/10/02/gov-scott-declares-state-of-emergency-for-hurricane-
maria-to-support-puerto-rico/
Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott. (2017). Gov. Scott Directs Florida Department
of Education to Take Additional Action to Help Puerto Rican Students and Educators
[Press release]. Retrieved April 01, 2018, from
https://www.flgov.com/2017/10/06/gov-scott-directs-florida-department-of-education-to-
take-additional-action-to-help-puerto-rican-students-and-educators/
Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott. (2018). Governor Scott: After Months of
Advocating, Federal Disaster Relief Heading to Florida [Press release]. Retrieved April
01, 2018, from
https://www.floridadisaster.org/news-media/news/gov.-scott-after-months-of-advocating-
federal-disaster-relief-heading-to-florida/
Florida Association of District School Superintendents. (2018). ​2018 Legislative
Platform. ​Retrieved February 01, 2018, from
https://www.pcsb.org/cms/lib/FL01903687/Centricity/domain/270/2018%20legislative%
20platforms/FINAL%20-%20BOD%20Approved%20Legislative%20Platform.pdf
Florida Department of Education. (2017). ​Guidance to School Districts for Enrolling
Students Displaced by Hurricane Maria. ​Retrieved February 01, 2018, from
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5673/urlt/HurricaneMariaQA10617.pdf
Florida House of Representatives. (2018). ​Select Committee on Hurricane Response
and Preparedness: Final Report. ​Retrieved February 01, 2018, from
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?PublicationType=C
ommittees&CommitteeId=2978&Session=2018&DocumentType=General%20Publicatio
ns&FileName=SCHRP%20-%20Final%20Report%20online.pdf
Hurricane Maria to cost the economies of Puerto Rico and other US territories nearly
$48 billion in output, bringing total losses from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to
almost $300 billion in US real gross domestic product. (2018). Retrieved February 05,
2018, from
https://www.perrymangroup.com/with-maria-hurricane-costs-to-us-economy-approach-3
00-billion/
K-20 Education Code: General Provisions, Fla. Stat. § 1003.01-1003.06 (2012)
K-20 Education Code: Funding for School Districts, Fla. Stat. § 1011.60-1011.77
(2012)