Hurricane Ike, which swamped Galveston in September and forced hundreds of students off the island, is now drying up revenue sources for public, private and charter schools, some of which may close.
State funding for public and charter schools, based on enrollment, will drop because many students whose homes were destroyed have been unable to return. At private schools, fewer students means less revenue.
Facing declining revenue and mounting costs in Ike's aftermath, the leaders of Galveston's public, private and charter schools are contemplating budget cuts, layoffs and, in some cases, school closures, the Galveston Daily News reported.
The city's public school district, which lost 30 percent of its students, held off on repairing two flooded elementary schools because it can't afford to fix schools that sustained more than 50 percent damage.
If district trustees ultimately decide to close those schools, some teachers and staff members will lose their jobs, said Superintendent Lynne Cleveland.
