Ida deals new blow to Louisiana schools struggling to reopen

By MATT SEDENSKY
AP National Writer

LULING, La. (AP) — Louisiana students were just getting back to class after a year and a half of COVID-19 disruptions when Hurricane Ida struck. Now many of them are missing school again. Nearly 170,000 public school students statewide have no school to report to. Top administrators promise that classrooms will reopen in a matter of weeks. But that’s not enough to keep many parents and educators from worrying about whether kids may fall behind. The situation draws inevitable comparisons to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. The monster storm led to unstable living conditions, serious emotional and behavioral issues, and educational losses for hundreds of thousands of students.