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Action Required

September 25, 2008

To the Superintendent Addressed:

Re:  PEIMS Crisis Code Reporting for Students Displaced by Hurricane Ike

This letter is to inform you that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has declared Hurricane Ike a state education-related crisis. Therefore, TEA is activating the PEIMS Crisis Code for the 2008 – 2009 Fall, Summer, and Extended Year collections to identify students displaced by the storm.

The Crisis Code information will enable TEA to assist school districts in serving students who relocated due to Hurricane Ike, and will allow TEA to accurately report the data for financial and accountability purposes. TEA will also have the ability to respond to requests for student and district information as needed.

The PEIMS Crisis Code is a new data element documented in the August Addendum to the 2008 – 2009 Data Standards. It applies to all students who were enrolled after September 9, 2008, and were displaced as a result of Hurricane Ike. A displaced student is a student who was enrolled, or eligible for enrollment, in an area in which a crisis caused the relocation of that student.  Displacement may occur within or across districts.

Displaced Student Example 1:  A displaced student was enrolled in Humble ISD on September 15 and was previously enrolled in Galveston ISD.  

Displaced Student Example 2:  A displaced student was enrolled in Houston ISD, and changed campuses within Houston ISD on September 16 due to Hurricane Ike.

Students displaced as a result of Hurricane Ike must have been enrolled in a school district located in one of the following  counties or parishes declared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a disaster area that qualifies for individual assistance and public assistance (Category A and B). 

Texas Counties						Louisiana Parishes
003	Angelina	113	Houston	187	Polk	Acadia	St. Mary
008	Austin	121	Jasper	202	Sabine	Beauregard	Terrebonne
020	Brazoria	123	Jefferson	203	San Augustine	Calcasieu	Vermilion
036	Chambers	146	Liberty	204	San Jacinto	Cameron	Vernon
037	Cherokee	154	Madison	228	Trinity	Iberia
079	Fort Bend	158	Matagorda	229	Tyler	Jefferson
084	Galveston	170	Montgomery	236	Walker	Jefferson Davis
093	Grimes	174	Nacogdoches	237	Waller	Lafourche
100	Hardin	176	Newton	239	Washington	Plaquemines
101	Harris	181	Orange			Sabine

Note that a PEIMS crisis code should not be submitted for students who were not displaced and who remain enrolled in a Texas public school in one of the Texas counties listed above.  Districts directly affected by Hurricane Ike will have unique issues dependent upon the extent of damage to school facilities, homes in the community, businesses, and public services.  For these districts, special provisions will be considered for the financial and accountability systems for the 2008-09 school year and beyond.  

Displaced students enrolled and served by a school district or charter school as a result of Hurricane Ike should be reported in the district’s 2008 – 2009 Fall, Summer, and Extended Year PEIMS Submissions regardless of the As of Status Code that the student has been assigned. 

The PEIMS Crisis Code Table C178 has been updated to define codes ‘01’ and ‘02’ for Hurricane Ike. Please note that the Crisis Code may be left blank or given a code of ‘00’ on the 100 Student Identification record for students not affected by Hurricane Ike. 

Code	PEIMS Crisis Code Table C178 -   Code Translation
00	Student was not affected by a health or weather related crisis
01	Indicates that a student was enrolled in a Texas school before September 9, 2008, in a Texas county declared a disaster area because of Hurricane Ike, and the student enrolled in another Texas public school district, or moved from a Hurricane Ike impacted campus, to a non-impacted campus during the 2008-09 school year.
02	Indicates that a student came to Texas after September 9, 2008, from a Louisiana parish declared a disaster area because of Hurricane Ike and the student enrolled in a Texas public school district during the 2008-09 school year.
03	Reserved for future health or weather related crisis
04	Reserved for future health or weather related crisis
05	Reserved for future health or weather related crisis

 
To the extent possible, districts should maintain documentation on each student identified with these two crisis codes. 

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact the Division of Enterprise Data Management at (512) 936-7346.  

Sincerely,

Robert Scott.
Commissioner of Education