Terrebonne Parish Superintendent provides insight on school restorations

“This was hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime storm,” Terrebonne Parish Superintendent Bubba Orgeron said as he reflected on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida. Terrebonne Parish suffered catastrophic damage. The deadly storm ripped through the campuses of 4 Terrebonne schools, destroying the facilities and leaving the district to create a plan in less than 30 days. South Terrebonne High School, Ellender Memorial High School, Upper Little Caillou Elementary School, and Grand Caillou Elementary School closed the doors to their main buildings in August 2021, unbeknownst to the devastation Ida would leave behind. Orgeron said the schools suffered sustained roof and water damage, forcing students to be placed in surrounding schools for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year.

In the aftermath of Ida, Orgeron said he and his team immediately began the mitigation and assessment process, meeting with architects and contractors to create a plan. “We had teams of architects and engineers divide our schools into groups to assess the damages and report it back to us. From there we got contractors to start the mitigation process, that was placing temporary roofs on the majority of our schools that had water penetration right away. Then we began the drying out process, we placed dryers and dehumidifiers in each school, we had to do some mold mitigation, and we had some schools that needed floor tile replacement.”

While the district was working on its plans for rebuilding, Orgeron began focusing on getting students back into classrooms, successfully providing a safe environment for students to return to within 30 days after the storm. Students from Upper Little Caillou Elementary were moved into the then vacant East Houma Elementary campus, and students from Grand Caillou Elementary were moved into the former Elysian Fields Elementary building. Students from South Terrebonne and Ellender Memorial High School completed the 2021-2022 school year on the campus of nearby schools that weren’t severely damaged in the storm. “That’s working well although it’s out of their community, it’s a good solid building to continue the academic process,” said Orgeron.

Superintendent Orgeron shared details on the extreme damages each building endured and the district’s plan to come back better and stronger. “Each building had roof damage, and water intrusion from the roof damage, we had a lot of exterior damage from siding, and windows, but the main thing was water penetration, which is a problem that caused other issues.  We had a lot of heavy mitigation post-storm, we had to remove a lot of contents from inside some of our buildings. We began the next steps of assessments which were looking into detail of the damages of each school and cost assessments for FEMA,” said Orgeron.

“Although we were insured, it was not nearly enough to cover the extent of the damages so we’ll be heavily dependent on FEMA. We’re currently in the phase where we are wrapping up all of the cost assessments and we’re issuing notices to proceeds for roofs. Once we’re confident we have a good solid roof over the schools we’ll get into the interior. Once that’s squared away we’ll get into the wall situations, the rest of the flooring, sealing tiles and everything else. That’s the next phase that’s about to happen in the month. It’s quite lengthy in time but once we get that done that’ll open us to the next phase which is interior work,” Orgeron added. The superintendent said while he can’t provide an exact estimate of the costs of damages between all four schools, the district has spent millions of dollars for repairs, which is 90 percent reimbursable once the FEMA claim process is completed.

As we reflect on the remnants of Hurricane Ida one year later, Terrebonne Parish School district is still working diligently to reopen the doors of all four buildings. Although the school’s main buildings are still under construction, South Terrebonne High and Ellender Memorial High School students were greeted on the first day of the new school year on their campus. The district placed temporary modular buildings on each campus, which includes features of a regular classroom. The temporary buildings include a cafeteria, science labs, home economics labs with kitchens, office areas, libraries, and a boardwalk to connect the classrooms. Orgeron said the district wanted to provide a sense of normalcy for students during trying times. “We knew it would be an extensive recovery and repair so we had to find an alternative placement for the students. We put a lot of effort into getting a great setup for those two high schools,” said Orgeron.

The school year was just around the corner and although TPSD found a solution for temporary classrooms, educators were still feeling the effect of the storm. In an effort to help teachers breathe life into their classrooms after a devastating loss, the Terrebonne Parish Foundation for Excellence surprised Terrebonne Parish educators with a generous donation. TFAE surprised educators at Ellender Memorial High School and South Terrebonne High School with a $40,000 donation, with each teacher receiving $700 to purchase materials and supplies for their classrooms. Orgeron said the outpouring of support from the TFAE has been a “boost and blessing” for Terrebonne educators. “It’s a boost for teachers who are displaced and are working to adjust to a new area. A lot of teachers have put a lot of their own money into replacing things that were lost, from everything to bulletin boards to materials. This will help reimburse them for some of the personal expenses they used to get their space ready. It’s been a wonderful thing to see a community come together and support teachers during a difficult time. I’ve heard nothing but positive responses from our teachers to receive such a generous gift from TFAE, it’s been a blessing.”

Orgeron said he believes both students and teachers are happy to be back on their main campus in the modular buildings and says the district is planning to provide athletic facilities for students for the upcoming sports season. “My initial observation was they’re not missing the beat. I think they appreciate and feel very comfortable in the new spaces. Even though they’re temporary they’re brand new and spacious and have all of the accommodations of a regular school. We’re also working on an athletic facility so kids won’t have to run all over town to find gyms and fields to practice. We’re striving to have things on campus so that it becomes as close to normal as possible. That includes everything but gyms, the gyms for both of our high schools aren’t anywhere near being ready. So we’ll find a way to make it work,” he explains.

Despite suffering a tremendous loss in the storm, Orgeron commended student-athletes from South Terrebonne and Ellender Memorial bringing home state championships amid trying times. “Ellender basketball teams had no home games, they played all of their games at Terrebonne High. Despite not having their own gym and having to find practice space they managed to win the state championship last year and that’s a beautiful thing. As well as the South Terrebonne Baseball team, they were able to do the same thing and were able to put together a winning season and win a state championship in baseball. That was just beautiful on both accounts, it was a sign of overcoming, staying focused, and staying positive.”

Superintendent Orgeron discussed the district’s plan for the future and the impact Hurricane Ida had on residents of Terrebonne Parish. “It makes me proud of our school system and our community. The majority of the citizens here are going through home repairs, we still have people living in campers because of extensive damages so it’s tough, it’s emotional. Ida took a toll on everyone when you reflect on it and we’re praying that we’re spared for a couple of years.” said Orgeron.

“We just want everyone to know we’re working as hard and as quickly to get our facilities to a state where it’s better than it was before Ida. We’re looking at even more safety features for our schools and standard damage repairs for the storm. We really want to get our schools as safe and close to pristine as we can. We’re going through all of the steps so that we can maximize the help through FEMA and allow them to come in and support us. We’re working hard to get back to normal and even better is the message I want to communicate. I’d just like to thank everyone for their patience with this, their flexibility, and just trust that we’re going to continue to provide the best educational environment possible for our kids so they’re prepared for what comes ahead. ”Our goal is to come back better than we were before Ida and that’s coming,” Orgeron added.