Recommendations include best practices and expert guidance to support school system leaders before, during, and after a hurricane
(BATON ROUGE, LA) - As students and teachers across the state begin to prepare for back to school, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) is launching a new resource to help school systems prepare for the peak of hurricane season. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley released the LDOE’s first Hurricane Preparedness Playbook during an event today at Lakewood Elementary in Luling.
“Louisiana’s students, families, and educators have shown unwavering resilience in the face of extraordinary adversity,” said Dr. Brumley. “These recommendations will help modernize Louisiana’s education infrastructure and equip school systems with the necessary tools to protect their facilities pre- and post-hurricane.”
The playbook includes best practices and expert guidance to support school system leaders before, during, and after a hurricane. It was developed by the LDOE’s Protect Louisiana Schools Hurricane Preparedness Commission (PLSHPC) and made possible through a partnership with AT&T.
“We have invested in Louisiana communities for more than 140 years. Our employees live and work in communities across the state. We volunteer in classrooms, and we serve on PTAs,” said David J. Aubrey, president, AT&T Louisiana. “We are proud to call Louisiana home, and we are honored to support the work of the Hurricane Preparedness Commission as they continue to strengthen our communities.”
Today’s release was hosted at Lakewood Elementary in St. Charles Parish Public Schools (SCPPS). Every school in SCPPS was impacted by Hurricane Ida, which put 300,000 kids out of school in Central and Southeast Louisiana. Lakewood Elementary’s principal, Kelli Oertling, served as a member of the PLSHPC.
About the Hurricane Preparedness Playbook
The playbook includes school and school system best practices for hurricane preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery. It represents the guidance of experts from the private sector, academia, and government.
About the Protect Louisiana Schools Hurricane Preparedness Commission
Dr. Brumley created the PLSHPC in 2021 following a period when Louisiana citizens had been catastrophically impacted by six hurricanes — two of which were among the strongest in state history. Prior to the creation of the PLSHPC, the LDOE lacked the type of resources and guidance to protect Louisiana schools. Dr. Brumley launched the Commission to fix that gross oversight. This is Louisiana’s first statewide commission of its kind. Its mission includes three main goals: empower school systems and leaders with the tools to protect their facilities pre and post-hurricane; fortify Louisiana’s core educational infrastructures; build operational best practices for school systems and leaders before, during, and after hurricanes. The following commission members contributed time and knowledge to the creation of the Hurricane Preparedness Playbook: