Harvey Affects Texas High School’s Start Date
School districts could not send out buses to pick up students for school
Harvey’s aftermath in Houston, Texas, home to KIPP High School.
On August 25, natural disaster Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane, touched down in Houston, Texas. Harvey is America’s first major hurricane since Hurricane Wilma hit Florida back in 2005. Amongst many other things, the flooding resulting from Harvey caused mass destruction.
Coincidentally, the hurricane occurred around the same time school started up again after summer break. This caused major scheduling issues regarding transportation, curriculum pace, school athletics, and extracurriculars. To those of us starting the school year on time, a setback like Harvey does not sound like the worst thing in the world if it means school would be pushed back, but for high schoolers residing in Houston, Harvey altered their school schedule drastically.
According to World Vision, approximately 24.5 trillion gallons of rain poured down on the city of Houston and surrounding areas resulting in submerged roads, cars, houses, and more. Since most roads were completely underwater, school districts could not send out buses to pick up students for school. Chandler Quave, a senior at KIPP High School in Houston says, “I [had] no way to get to school even if I [wanted] to, the buses [weren’t] running, but regardless, I [couldn’t] even leave my house since our first floor [was] essentially underwater.”
Chandler, and many other students in similar situations, had no way of acquiring their school materials since power was out in most locations as well as flooding.
Quave continues, “When I’m finally able to go back I’m going to be so behind.”
Unfortunately, many students will start their first or second week of school already behind which will only add to the stress of having to deal with the physical damage the hurricane already caused.
Not only has the repercussions of Hurricane Harvey caused disturbances in the school curriculum and transportation, but athletics will be delayed as well. Athletes who have trained all summer have been put on hold, unable to improve their skills or practice for upcoming sports seasons since the majority of fields and athletic facilities have been damaged by the storm.
Sam Bosewell, a football player at KIPP High School in Houston, says, “I just feel bad for the team, I mean they work so hard all summer to get in shape so college reps will notice them, now I don’t even think we’ll be able to play our first few games.”
Despite the setbacks the hurricane caused for high school students and teachers, things have started to return to normal. According to Texas state and local officials, Houston is on track to completing its first sweep of debris to be completed within the next thirty days. While the flooding is still attendant in some areas, the rain has started to let up meaning that school systems should be fully functioning in no time.
