School officials scramble to make room, find supplies

BOURNE -- Students arriving here after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes might not be able to begin school right away because local superintendents say they need time to find seats, textbooks, teachers, and counselors.

State officials estimate that roughly 2,500 people could will be housed at Camp Edwards on Otis Air National Guard Base, but no one knows how many of them are would be school-age children. Amid their own back-to-school frenzy, six local superintendents met in Bourne yesterday to hash out options: re-opening a closed school on the base or dispersing the children throughout Upper Cape towns.

Nancy E. Young, superintendent of schools in Sandwich, said she has space for as many as 300 students at Sandwich High, her town's newly renovated high school.

''Between all of us, we're going to be able to make do," Young said. ''Everyone is going to do their part, and that's what's going to make this work."

By contrast, the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne is filled to capacity, so officials yesterday floated the option of having double sessions there to accommodate an influx, Young said.

Officials also will need to rethink bus routes, add cafeteria food, and get books and supplies, which is why displaced students would have to wait until next week at the earliest to begin school, said Bourne Superintendent Edmond W. LaFleur.

If school officials opt for re-opening the base's school, it would take more than $2 million, LaFleur said. Besides the logistics of figuring out the children's grade levels and particular educational needs, school officials also want to help the evacuees feel at ease, LaFleur said. The district wants to start an ''adopt-a-friend" buddy program to pair its students with the new arrivals, he said.

''We're hosting children, and we need to be welcoming, supporting, and provide a safe and secure environment for students who have been uprooted from their homes, uprooted from their communities, uprooted from their states," LaFleur said.

Teachers at Otis Memorial School, located on the military base, yesterday began preparing their students for the possibility of gaining dozens of new classmates.

Janice Kemmitt, a second-grade teacher, said her students discussed sharing toys with the new children, and she told the youngsters: ''We need to support each other, and we can all be friends."

''I think the children are going to be the key to making this work," said Kemmitt, president of the Bourne Educators Association.

Teachers also talked among themselves about how best to handle students who are likely to be traumatized after losing homes, pets, schools, and possibly family members during the hurricane.

Hundreds of people called LaFleur's office yesterday asking to volunteer, tutor, or help resettle the students. School systems, including Boston, Abington, and Scituate, offered books and supplies.

Judy Gaylord of Bourne, who retired in June after 35 years as a teacher, signed up to volunteer. A former first-grade teacher, Gaylord said she would be willing to help screen the children or decorate their classrooms.

''I just want to help out," Gaylord said. ''You can send money, but when it's in your town, you can do something."