Conroe Courier - News
Schools, cities, county remain shut down
By Jay Langley
Courier Staff
Schools and government offices will remain closed for at least the first part of the week because power has not been restored following Hurricane Ike Saturday.
The Conroe, Montgomery and Splendora school districts will be closed today and Tuesday. The Magnolia and New Caney school districts are closed indefinitely, while the Willis ISD will be closed through at least Wednesday.
“Call us eternal optimists, but we did not want to just go ahead and close school for the entire week,” Splendora ISD administrative assistant Deitra Inkster said. “The worst thing we could do is close for the whole week and then the power comes back on Wednesday night. We need to get our students back into the classroom as soon as possible.”
While many of the school districts will reopen once power is restored, some districts such as Magnolia have other problems to worry about.
With part of the roof of the Bear Branch sixth-grade campus blown off, Magnolia Superintendent Michael Holland said reopening the school could take at least a couple of weeks.
“We are in dire straights,” Holland said. “All of our residents have no phone lines, no water, nothing. We have to get those things worked out before we can get the kids back to school.”
In Texas, students are required to attend 181 days of school. But with the possibility of missing weeks of school, it is possible the school year would extend well into the summer.
Texas school districts can make an appeal to the Texas Education Agency in which days missed because of a disaster would not have to be made up at the end of the year. Conroe and Splendora made the appeal during Hurricane Rita, but it was not needed.
With phone lines down and power outages, school officials are encouraging students and parents to read the newspaper and listen to the radio for further updates.
Splendora ISD has set up an Immediate Response Information System in which parents will be contacted via e-mail and telephone.
“But with no phones and computers listening to the radio or reading the newspaper is still be the best option,” Inkster said.
All city and county offices, as well as the court system, also will be closed indefinitely.
The city of Conroe also has extended its curfew indefinitely; it is from dusk to dawn every night.
“It could be as long as two or three weeks (before offices reopen),” Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said. “We are asking everyone affected to stay patient. We are all in this together.”
While the individual websites for cities in Montgomery County do not list any closings, Melder said he is not aware of any cities in the county that are open.
Montgomery County commissioners will have an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. today. Mayors and other city officials are encouraged to attend the meeting.
“We will be discussing the disaster situation in the county,” said Ann Carr, the chief of staff for County Judge Alan B. Sadler. “Things like debris pickup to power lines down in streets. It’s really open to discussion of anything that falls under the disaster declaration.”
Carr said she has asked all county judges to suspend their dockets for a week. When asked what citizens should do if they have scheduled court dates or jury duty, Carr said she did not know.
“That is something that will need to be decided,” she said. “Right now, I just don’t have an answer.”
With such uncertainty about schools, cities and courts, Melder is encouraging people to sit tight.
“We have thousands of people from the city, county and state working hard to make this horrible situation better,” Melder said. “People need to stay optimistic and patient and know that we are doing everything we can.”
The Conroe, Montgomery and Splendora school districts will be closed today and Tuesday. The Magnolia and New Caney school districts are closed indefinitely, while the Willis ISD will be closed through at least Wednesday.
“Call us eternal optimists, but we did not want to just go ahead and close school for the entire week,” Splendora ISD administrative assistant Deitra Inkster said. “The worst thing we could do is close for the whole week and then the power comes back on Wednesday night. We need to get our students back into the classroom as soon as possible.”
While many of the school districts will reopen once power is restored, some districts such as Magnolia have other problems to worry about.
With part of the roof of the Bear Branch sixth-grade campus blown off, Magnolia Superintendent Michael Holland said reopening the school could take at least a couple of weeks.
“We are in dire straights,” Holland said. “All of our residents have no phone lines, no water, nothing. We have to get those things worked out before we can get the kids back to school.”
In Texas, students are required to attend 181 days of school. But with the possibility of missing weeks of school, it is possible the school year would extend well into the summer.
Texas school districts can make an appeal to the Texas Education Agency in which days missed because of a disaster would not have to be made up at the end of the year. Conroe and Splendora made the appeal during Hurricane Rita, but it was not needed.
With phone lines down and power outages, school officials are encouraging students and parents to read the newspaper and listen to the radio for further updates.
Splendora ISD has set up an Immediate Response Information System in which parents will be contacted via e-mail and telephone.
“But with no phones and computers listening to the radio or reading the newspaper is still be the best option,” Inkster said.
All city and county offices, as well as the court system, also will be closed indefinitely.
The city of Conroe also has extended its curfew indefinitely; it is from dusk to dawn every night.
“It could be as long as two or three weeks (before offices reopen),” Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said. “We are asking everyone affected to stay patient. We are all in this together.”
While the individual websites for cities in Montgomery County do not list any closings, Melder said he is not aware of any cities in the county that are open.
Montgomery County commissioners will have an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. today. Mayors and other city officials are encouraged to attend the meeting.
“We will be discussing the disaster situation in the county,” said Ann Carr, the chief of staff for County Judge Alan B. Sadler. “Things like debris pickup to power lines down in streets. It’s really open to discussion of anything that falls under the disaster declaration.”
Carr said she has asked all county judges to suspend their dockets for a week. When asked what citizens should do if they have scheduled court dates or jury duty, Carr said she did not know.
“That is something that will need to be decided,” she said. “Right now, I just don’t have an answer.”
With such uncertainty about schools, cities and courts, Melder is encouraging people to sit tight.
“We have thousands of people from the city, county and state working hard to make this horrible situation better,” Melder said. “People need to stay optimistic and patient and know that we are doing everything we can.”
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