A year after Hurricane Michael, school district recovering

Oct. 6--BAY DISTRICT -- Like other parts of Bay County and surrounding affected areas, Bay District Schools is recovering from Hurricane Michael nearly a year later.

Campuses are damaged. Faculty and staff are dealing with insurance companies and contractors. Students are navigating mental health issues, changes to their routine and, in some cases, homelessness.

The Northwest Florida Daily News and Panama City News Herald collaborated to interview students and staff in the education system to get their perspective as the anniversary approached. Here are their stories.

Marheya Merritt, 16, Junior, Arnold High School

Marheya's family finally moved Sept. 10 into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment called the Club at Panama Beach, which is just 1.7 miles from Arnold High School. The hurricane made her family homeless when it barreled in on Oct. 10 as a Category 5 storm.

"We were very much struggling with finding an apartment, so we could get back on our feet," Maryeha said. "It was very, very hard. We ran into a lack of housing. All the prices were bumped up. We were moving from hotel to hotel."

Marheya, her mom, her mom's husband and two brothers all lived together in the hotel rooms.

"We'd all be in one room, my mom and my siblings," Marheya said. "To not have you own space as a 16-year-old, well, I couldn't bring over friends or do anything normally."

For three months, Marheya moved in with her dad in Marianna but got into the routine of "getting home late and getting up early," so she could drive "hours and hours" to attend Arnold. She also had to sleep in a recliner during that time.

"I was falling asleep in my classes and I had a lot of back pain and stuff like that," Marheya said.

"I was doing it because I had to," Marheya added. "It was not really motivational. It was kind of like a chore."

Marheya plunged into a deep depression and attended a few mental health counseling sessions offered by the school district before quitting. She and her family had just gotten on their feet when Michael caved in their roof. Meanwhile, all her other friends struggled after the storm but didn't get hit as hard, she said.

"I was at rock bottom after the storm," Marheya said. "It didn't do much for me. It made me even more angry."

She left for Georgia for two weeks and missed another week of school.

"My school work suffered a little bit," Marheya said. "It took a toll on my grades."

However, Marheya counts her blessings for Sandra Eisner, her algebra teacher. Eisner was the only teacher who noticed her suffering.

"She told me she noticed I wasn't myself. She definitely helped me a lot," Marheya said. "She cared the most. I'm really grateful for her. I don't know how to show her gratitude."

The two would sit in Eisner's classroom and eat lunch together and talk.

A year after Michael struck, Marheya said she feels much better. She was watching cheer on TV and YouTube videos and doing cheer. After a few months, her mother couldn't afford it anymore, so she decided to be a cheerleader for Arnold High instead.

"Everything just seems more upbeat," Marheya said. "Hardly anyone is talking about the storm so constantly. (Michael) definitely brought us closer together."

As for her depression, she said she feels "different."

"It's not to say I still don't have those days, but, hopefully, it will be easier," she said.

Grace Smith, 11, 6th grade student at Jinks Middle School

Five of Grace's friends moved away after "their houses got destroyed" during the hurricane.

"Our house roof was torn off," Grace said.

She and her mom moved, too, but stayed in the area. They moved to the beach from the Cove. Her mom lost her job as a nurse at the Bay Medical Center. However, she now works at another job at the hospital.

When Michael plowed ashore, Grace was staying at her dad's house out in the country. They had to cut down trees lying in the road and it took them 11 days to make it back to the Cove neighborhood. They were running out of water.

Once they got out of the country at her dad's, she took a trip to Jacksonville to her step mom's family's house.

Her elementary school was even in worse shape than her home.

"The roof flew off," Grace said. "The gym area was destroyed."

Now, she said, it is repaired, "back to being a normal elementary school."

She even said one of her teachers lost her homes.

"The house got destroyed and they had to move houses," Grace said. "She is getting it rebuilt now. She's still living in her trailer outside her house."

When she hears of a storm in the Gulf of Mexico she has her own way of dealing with it.

"I try to think about after everything is done," she said. "That calms me down. I know the storm will pass."

She tells her friends everything will be fine. "More damaged buildings being fixed" makes her happy.

Adrianna Krebs, 4th grade math teacher at Hiland Park Elementary

In one word, her Hurricane Michael experience as a teacher has been "overwhelming."

"The aftermath has become more daunting as time has gone on," Krebs said. "I think I'm seeing, from the teacher perspective, a lot of the true issues in the later months."

Krebs previously taught kindergarten and this is her first year in 4th grade. Kindergarteners are "more upfront with their feelings," whereas 4th graders "keep it in more," Krebs said.

"Particularly when we were talking about Labor Day weekend with Hurricane Dorian, you could just see it in their faces," Krebs said. "That was new for me for them to not be like, 'Is this another hurricane? Is this happening again?' It was more of, 'Are we going to be on school Monday?' They were trying not to say it."

Student behavior has changed, which Krebs can understand and empathize with. Students get anxious when the weather changes or they hear a loud sound. Morale is also different.

"There's more of a family aspect. I've been teaching for four years and, yes, we're all like our miniature family but I think more than ever they really hold onto their relationships," Krebs said. "I get a lot more notes like, 'We love you Ms. Krebs' or 'I hope you'll be my teacher all year.'"

Teachers are also balancing personal recovery with classroom duties. Krebs makes phone calls to make sure countertops are coming in during breaks.

"I'm really impressed with Husfelt's ability to stay so positive and keep everyone so positive," Krebs said. "Of course we want everything to go faster but I think we're all very understanding and knowing that as long as it's taking us, it's going to take everyone else ... businesses, schools."

Bill Husfelt, superintendent of Bay District Schools

Husfelt is reminded of Hurricane Michael every day at work through his office window.

"There is a two-story complex that looks like a bomb dropped through the roof," he said.

Husfelt said the school system has about $350 million to $400 million in damages to repair and every roof needs to be replaced, which he estimates will take seven to eight years to do.

Because it lost 2,000 students or 17% of its district-wide enrollment, Bay County "mothballed" three schools and plans to consolidate a middle school and high school. It will put the schools back in operation when the students return.

Additionally, Husfelt plans to build K-8 schools once enrollment returns to pre-Michael numbers. Bay County School District had an enrollment of 28,129 in the 2018-2019 school year.

Federal and state housing assistance will be "the key" to helping the families of homeless students, Husfelt said.

"The quicker we get housing back, the quicker the recovery will be," Husfelt said.

Husfelt said the "most terrible stories" he hears are the conditions some are living in -- families in cars and tents.

Husfelt praised students and teachers with how they are handling the recovery. Husfelt said the community still talks about what areas have been cleared of debris and where construction has started.

"Those are things we get excited about," Husfelt said. "It's a big step forward. It makes us feel good."

Cheri Wroblewski, coordinator of mental health initiative and Ken Chisholm, mental health team member

Wroblewski said there have been changes in family dynamics, with a large group of grandparents raising kids.

"As a grandparent, you're settled in your ways and not as young and with the rest of the world," Wroblewski said. "I'm finding parents are working weird hours and grandparents are having to raise them and may or may not be as savvy with the needs of the student or as in touch as they probably would."

The district and community has made mental health a priority and taken steps to help students, including hiring clinicians. The state has also shown support, with Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis promoting telehealth services.

"We all are seeing more people talking about it, which we're hoping will bridge some of those gaps and get the ones that really do need to get into services where they need to be," Wroblewski said.

Chisholm wants to focus on mental health concerns, including suicide awareness, for the coming years.

"I would love nothing more than the number of Baker Acts to decrease," Chisholm said.

___

(c)2019 The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.)

Visit The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) at www.newsherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.