"Schools equal family normalcy" Steps to ramp and school facilities constructed above flood plain are shown.  (LA-RFO Photo by Jennifer Armstrong) Back to Features

Dozier School Emergency Replacement Engages the Community
By Russell Williams, Project Manager, St. Paul District

Dozier Elementary School in Vermillion Parish sustained tremendous damage to its buildings and classrooms from Hurricane Rita.

The Corps received a Task Order from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, conducted an evaluation, and completed a temporary school for approximately 800 elementary school students as part of its critical temporary facilities mission which produced 216 classrooms and other important public facilities. 

Dozier students (pre-school through the 4th grade), like others benefitted by the FEMA/USACE program came back to new modular facilities, which included:

• 3 restroom buildings
• 1 double wide for library and speech
• 1 double wide for administration
• 1 double wide for intervention and resource
• 1 double wide for janitorial services and storage
• 1 double wide for music and physical education
• 9 double wide buildings (18 classrooms) for Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten
• 1 Quad building for dining facility.
• 10 double wide buildings (20 classrooms) for grades 1st-4th

Each building holds two classrooms and each classroom holds 20 to 23 students.  

“They’re all new facilities, elevated above the flood plain, and connected by ramps with lights underneath,” said Critical Public Facilities Mission Manager Jay Joseph.  “Children get off the bus on the ramp and they never have to leave the ramp until getting back onto the bus.” 

Corps project managers are sad about witnessing the devastation to the schools and the area.  At the same time, they’re happy with the cooperation they’ve received and what they’ve learned from their experience.  

“There are a lot of humble people,” said Project Manager Jennifer Armstrong (Norfolk District) who is on-site in Erath, La.  “They are concerned with getting the job done.” 

The person responsible for the cafeteria was involved on the site to help in the cafeteria’s interior design, which allows easy student entry and exit from two different sides and feeds 100 to 150 students at a one time.   

“What impresses me is how happy they are to have us there,” said LA-RFO Project Manager Roy Harvison (a retired annuitant).  “They’ll do anything they can to help us help them.” 

Both Armstrong and Harvison agree that the rewarding part of their assignment is seeing a return to normalcy for Dozier Elementary School.  They also enjoyed their working environment which included a multitude of different learning experiences in areas such as cafeteria management, plumbing, school maintenance and coordination with a variety of departments, such as the fire department.  

Bringing normalcy back to the community is what drives these team members. 

“There were many damaged schools in the Vermillion Parish.  And it’s my understanding that Dozier is the primary,” said Joseph. “With Dozier Elementary School repaired, the Dozier children were to move back into it and children from other area schools will move into the new structures for a semester or so while their school is being prepared.”