HOUSTON (AP) - The Latest on students in Houston finally starting their new school year after being delayed because of Harvey (all times local):
3:05 p.m.
Houston school district officials say 268 of their 284 campuses have started classes following a two week delay to the school year’s start due to flooding from Harvey.
Superintendent Richard Carranza says district teachers and other employees have been working hard to get schools damaged during Harvey up and running as quickly as possible.
Officials had previously said that 202 schools would be open on Monday but they gave an updated figure during a news conference at an elementary school with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner says students going back to school shows Houston is open for business and on its way to recovering from Harvey.
Other students are set to return to their campuses on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 due to ongoing clean up and repairs.
___
2:20 p.m.
Houston school district officials say more than 240 of their 284 campuses have started classes following a two week delay to the school year’s start due to flooding from Harvey.
Superintendent Richard Carranza says district teachers and other employees have been working hard to get schools damaged during Harvey up and running as quickly as possible.
Officials had previously said that 202 schools would be open on Monday but they gave an updated figure during a news conference at an elementary school with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner says students going back to school shows Houston is open for business and on its way to recovering from Harvey.
Other students are set to return to their campuses on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 due to ongoing clean up and repairs.
___
11:15 a.m.
Students in Houston have started their first day of classes after city-wide flooding from Harvey caused the new school year to be delayed by two weeks.
At one elementary school, students were greeted Monday with hugs from teachers and staff. Demitra Cain, secretary at Codwell Elementary, says students are “excited to be back.”
Students at 202 of the Houston school district’s 284 campuses started classes Monday. Houston has the nation’s seventh-largest school system, with about 215,000 students.
The remaining campuses will start classes on Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 due to ongoing clean up and repairs from Harvey, which last month dumped more than 50 inches of rain in some areas around Houston.
Superintendent Richard Carranza says none of the district’s more than 300 schools and facilities escaped without some impact from the tropical storm. The district estimates Harvey caused at least $700 million in damage to schools and other buildings.
Nine campuses were so severely damaged that their students will have to be temporarily relocated to vacant district buildings or transferred to nearby schools.
___
7:20 a.m.
Students in Houston are finally starting their new school year following a two-week delay because of damage from Harvey.
Students at 202 of the Houston school district’s 284 campuses were scheduled to start classes Monday.
Other campuses will start classes on Sept. 18. Students at the nine schools most severely damaged by Harvey will be relocated to nearby campuses or to new locations and won’t start classes until Sept. 25.
School District Superintendent Richard Carranza says the district will pick up students who are still staying at shelters and take them to campuses.
Carranza says none of the district’s more than 300 schools and facilities escaped without some impact from Harvey.
Houston has the nation’s seventh-largest school system, with about 215,000 students.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.