Some Houston ISD campuses damaged by Hurricane Beryl might not be ready for start of school year

Houston Public Media, Adam Zuvanich | Posted on July 17, 2024, 5:06 PM

Dozens of towering pine trees have long been a signature of Sinclair Elementary School, a 65-year-old campus nestled in Houston's Timbergrove neighborhood.

The majority of those trees have come crashing down in recent months, with many being toppled by the derecho windstorm on May 16 and more falling during Hurricane Beryl last Monday. The downed trees destroyed most of the 16 temporary buildings utilized by the school, according to Sinclair PTO president Kim Ludlow, who said a playground structure and campus garden also were significantly damaged.

The first extreme weather event forced all of Sinclair's fifth-grade students and two of its fourth-grade classes to finish out the 2023-24 school year at a neighboring campus, Ludlow said. And in light of last week's Category 1 hurricane, which was particularly damaging because it passed almost directly over Houston, it remains to be seen whether the school will be ready for the start of a new academic year on Aug. 12.

"It's been really hard," Ludlow said. "Really challenging and really stressful."

Sinclair was among the most extensively damaged schools within Houston ISD, according to the district, which said in a Tuesday night statement to Houston Public Media that Kelso Elementary in south Houston and Cage Elementary on the southeast side also are part of that group. A total of 50 campuses had fallen trees during the hurricane and 60 reported roof or structural damage, HISD said.

Two hundred of the district's 274 campuses also lost electricity at one point, reflecting a trend across the region as about 80% of the 2.8 million customers served by CenterPoint Energy – or 2.26 million – lost power at the peak of the storm. Twenty HISD campuses still did not have power as of Tuesday night, according to the district, which said its facilities team and hired crews "have been working around the clock to get campuses back online and ready to serve students."

"We are doing everything possible to get these campuses ready for the August 12th start of school," the district also said. "Campus leaders will reach out to families at these campuses in the days and weeks to come to share updates on the recovery and to share details about any impacts storm damage will have on the first day of school."

Kelso and Cage, the latter of which shares a campus with Project Chrysalis Middle School, are among the 40-plus schools slated to be rebuilt as part of a $4.4 billion bond proposal being considered by HISD's state-appointed board of managers. The board is expected to vote on Aug. 8 on whether to place the bond measure, which would be the largest school bond in Texas history and the first for HISD since 2012, on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Sinclair is not earmarked for significant renovations as part of the proposed bond but would receive lead abatement as well as HVAC and security upgrades, according to Ludlow, who said the campus' main building was spared from storm damage both in May and last week. Repairs related to the mid-May windstorm were slated to be completed in November, Ludlow, but that timeline has now been pushed back because of Beryl.

Ludlow said she's hopeful that storm debris can be cleared and the school will be ready for Sinclair's 700-plus students by mid-August, which would mean maximizing space in the main building and utilizing the few outdoor structures that were not damaged. But at least some of the students might need to start the year at another campus, she said.

"I don't think anything's off the table at this point," Ludlow said.

HISD said campus and district-level administrators have communicated with Sinclair community members on a weekly basis and will continue to do so as August approaches. Ludlow, however, said, "I don't know that the district's response has been as quick as we would like it to be."

Ludlow thanked Sinclair Principal Lee Mashburn and school stakeholders for trying to expedite the recovery process and said neighborhood residents have been supportive and generous, contributing to a recovery fund that will be used to purchase mature trees that can replace some of the fallen ones as well as teachers' belongings that were lost in the damaged buildings. Ticket sales for a school dance that had to be scrapped also went into the fund, according to Ludlow, who said T-shirts with a "Sinclair Strong" logo also are being sold for fundraising purposes.

"We're hopeful that our school's going to be repaired and we're going to get to start our kids there and we're going to get to have a good year," she said. "I hope the same for the other campuses."