Hurricane Katrina: Legal Issues - Columbus School of Law

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Yes, compulsory education laws require school age children to be enrolled in some type of officially recognized school system, be it public, private, or parochial. Parents may also choose to home school their children, but must comply with state regulations for home schooling. What if a local school has been closed due to the hurricane? The answer depends largely on whether the family has relocated. If not, and the local school is still temporarily closed, there are several options for meeting the state compulsory education law. Children may be enrolled in a neighboring district until the local school re-opens, or may be enrolled in private or parochial school. Children may also be home schooled if the state’s requirements are met. Also, the Department of Education is setting up an internet system for distance learning in basic academic courses to keep temporarily displaced students on track, particularly in high school. In the end, however, the compulsory education law requires that families select one of these options for their K-12 children. What should families in a temporary shelter do about education? If there is a functioning school district near the shelter, temporarily sheltered families must enroll school age children in public, private, or parochial school. Additionally, under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, public education must be provided to homeless children. Victims of Katrina will no doubt be considered homeless if they are staying in a temporary shelter. Under McKinney-Vento, even if a displaced family is required to move to different residential locations over a period of time, the Act provides school stability by allowing homeless children to continue attending the same school if it is feasible for them to do so and desired by their parents or guardians. Is my child entitled to school meals? Generally, homeless students are automatically eligible for free school meals. The USDA has issued specific guidance for storm victims at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/Policy-Memos/2005-08-31.pdf. What other services is a child displaced by Hurricane Katrina entitled to receive? Like other homeless students, they should be eligible for compensatory education, bilingual education, and special education and related services if otherwise qualified. Can Hurricane Katrina children be segregated from other children in schools? No. The McKinney-Vento Act prohibits segregating educational facilities - such as by setting up shelter classrooms - on the basis of homelessness versus non-homelessness. What happens when a student’s former local school re-opens? If the family relocated temporarily due to the hurricane, school age children will transfer their enrollment back to their former school when the family returns home. Permanently relocated children will be treated like any other transfer. If available, the child’s records from the former school should eventually be transferred to his or her new school. Upon the beginning of the next academic year, any regulations which were temporarily waived (for example, proof of residency, proof of immunization) will be required for re-enrollment. What requirements apply to families who relocated from Louisiana to Mississippi? If a child was enrolled in a Louisiana school, Mississippi must accept enrollment due to reciprocal agreements between the two states. The only exception is if the child was enrolled in a pre-kindergarten program in Louisiana, since there is no guarantee a Mississippi school district will have such a program. If there is one, the family should be able to enroll a pre-K child. Families who encounter difficulty (due to lack of space, for example) with enrollment
should contact the state Department of Education for placement assistance. What requirements apply to higher education students? Most requirements, such as residency and time of enrollment, have been waived for at least the fall semester. Arrangements will vary with the institution. University students should contact the school they wish to attend for further details. The Department of Education is also offering special treatments for student loans for hurricane victims. For more information on loan forgiveness and other programs, see http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov. For specific information concerning waiver of tuition at new schools or whether students can get refunds from their nowclosed schools, individuals should contact their individual educational institutions. Student Loans How will Katrina affect my student loan situation? Sallie Mae is offering an interest-free loan of up to $1,000.00 (through June 1, 2006) to all displaced students affected by the hurricane. All students that applied for a Sallie Mae Loan during the 2005/2006 academic year and were enrolled in a certain group of schools in Louisiana and Mississippi are eligible for this offer. The schools that apply are listed at www.salliemae.com/katrina/index.html. Students must either call 1-877-HELP-040 (1-877-435-7040) or e-mail Sallie Mae at requesthelp@salliemae.com to begin the application process. What if Sallie Mae is not the financial aid service I use? The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has an entire section of their web page devoted to students with loans or financial aid in the affected areas. Some nationally known Federal Stafford and Parent loan lenders are offering assistance to students affected by Hurricane Katrina. For example, Student Loan Express and CIT Group, Inc. have combined services. You can contact these services by calling 1-866-SLX-PRES or visiting www.studentloanxpress.com. Additionally, USA Funds, a nationally known education-loan guarantor, has donated $1 million to help low income students that have been displaced by the hurricane in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. For information regarding this service, please visit www.disasterrelief.scholarshipamerica.org. What if my school has been closed because of Hurricane Katrina and I have already received Pell Grants or other forms of Federal student grant assistance or loans? Two bills have recently been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that address this topic. One bill (HR 3169) allows displaced students to keep Pell Grants that were received through their Home Institution. Another bill (HR 3668) amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow displaced students to keep all federal-grant aid for this fall. Under both bills, the education Secretary must grant a waiver for all students that do apply for the grants. Specific programs that specifically cooperating with these bills are: the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships program, and scholarships from Gear Up and TRIO. Also, legislation is pending about whether displaced students could defer payments for educational loans for up to six months without being charged any interest or other penalties for late payments. Currently, the law does allow borrowers affected by a natural disaster to apply for a three-month forbearance on the loans. However, interest will still accrue.
Page 1 and 2: Hurricane Katrina: Legal Issues Fro
Page 3 and 4: 5.1 Homeowner's Insurance 5.1.1 Cov
Page 5 and 6: 7.1.2 Who Is Eligible To Receive Fo
Page 7 and 8: 10.1 Child support 10.1.1 Are FEMA
Page 9 and 10: 10.6.4.1 Right to remain silent 10.
Page 11 and 12: 14.1.5 If I have a client that has
Page 13 and 14: website are urged to seek individua
Page 15 and 16: landlord to be released from his or
Page 17 and 18: (1) the landlord has a written leas
Page 19 and 20: the loan and the fees associated wi
Page 21 and 22: General suggestions. Contact Your M
Page 23 and 24: Liability for damages Does a proper
Page 25 and 26: from its foundation. What if damage
Page 27 and 28: If the mortgagee (bank) is named in
Page 29 and 30: used. A company should be able to f
Page 31 and 32: esources of state and local governm
Page 33 and 34: directions to your damaged property
Page 35 and 36: Yes, FEMA is authorized to accept l
Page 37 and 38: eceipts to FEMA through the IHP pro
Page 39 and 40: from FEMA, you must repay the amoun
Page 41 and 42: 18889971117. Mississippi residents
Page 43 and 44: MEDICAID, CHIP, WIC What Is Medicai
Page 45 and 46: What Is WIC? WIC is The Supplementa
Page 47: How Do I Replace My Social Security
Page 51 and 52: Self-employed individuals who lost
Page 53 and 54: 146.113(b)(2) (2004). What health i
Page 55 and 56: The FMLA provides an option for emp
Page 57 and 58: award. A decrease in child support
Page 59 and 60: How does the foster care system wor
Page 61 and 62: What are the criteria for appointin
Page 63 and 64: When, or under what circumstances,
Page 65 and 66: Investigation 1. Review any court f
Page 67 and 68: confidential (meaning it is not a p
Page 69 and 70: A child must be immediately informe
Page 71 and 72: e a runaway. “Probable cause” m
Page 73 and 74: Tell your child to show respect, bu
Page 75 and 76: Check out the charity's financial i
Page 77 and 78: If your car was submerged or standi
Page 79 and 80: hurricane that live outside of the
Page 81 and 82: Because of the difficulty in comfir
Page 83 and 84: International Educators http://www.
Page 85 and 86: The answer to this question is comp
Page 87 and 88: timely manner - that is, Plaquemine
Page 89 and 90: transportation within a short perio
Page 91 and 92: As with airlines, each travel searc
Page 93 and 94: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, m
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Page 99 and 100:
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