WATERLOO -- It has been a tough summer for Emily Russell and Emilie Herter.

It started when their usual end-of-the-school year routine was abruptly halted by an EF5 tornado that ripped through town on May 25. Both girls' family homes were destroyed leaving their families to search for temporary housing while the rebuilding effort was under way.

Herter's family originally moved in with her grandparents in Iowa Falls. They later found a more permanent temporary home just south of Dike, about 10 minutes from their damaged home.

"We had also found a house just north of Shell Rock that was closer to my work, but that would have been a 35-minute drive to Parkersburg," said Angi Herter, Emilie's mother.

And with two young students planning to continue their education at the Parkersburg elementary school, that kind of commute was out of the question. Kielinn, Emilie's 5-year-old sister, will be in the district's preschool program this fall.

The Herters are one of hundreds of families displaced by this year's tornadoes and floods. Many, like the Herters, were forced to move to communities outside their home school district causing much uncertainty about where their children would be able to attend school. Because of the timing, the state's traditional open enrollment deadline had already passed.

The uncertainty left many families wondering if their children would have to attend a new school for the duration of the rebuilding process.

It also left many district administrators, like Aplington-Parkersburg Superintendent Jon Thompson, grappling with the harsh reality that enrollment could sharply decrease in the 2008-09 school year, which in turn would mean losing a large chunk of their state funding.

"This has all been on our mind since the Tuesday after the Sunday tornado," Thompson said. "Right now, it doesn't appear that families are leaving for good, but our job is finding where they are."

State steps in

Though the Iowa Department of Education can't help districts locate their displaced students, they did step in to offer some assistance in making the process of bringing them back to their home district as easy as possible.

Under normal conditions, if a student moves out of a district they would have to go through the open enrollment process to continue their education at their previous school. However, state officials waived that requirement for students displaced by the tornado and flood. Instead, parents signed a Notice of Intent to Return to the District, a document that states they are rebuilding within district lines.

In a move to help the districts, the department has also done its part to help reduce the potential financial burden on the affected districts. Students who are living in one district but continuing their education at their resident school -- and students who are temporarily attending school in their new district but plan to return to their home district -- will all be included on the home district's certified enrollment count. Certified enrollment numbers are used to determine a district's state aid disbursement.

"If the student chooses to attend school in the district where they are currently living, then the home district may pay a prorated tuition to that district for each day of services provided," said Elaine Watkins-Miller, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education.

Sharon Miller, spokeswoman for the Waterloo school district, said moving outside the district hasn't been as big of an issue for them. Instead, they are dealing with students moving from one attendance center to another because of flood damage to their home. Miller said the district is making every possible concession to keep kids in their schools, as long as the family plans to rebuild.

"We are working out the details of our bus routes now, knowing that there will be an unusual number of children who will likely need that support," she said.

Crunching numbers

But, the state's guidance may not be enough for all districts. In Cedar Rapids, district officials have applied for about $6 million in federal help. About 1,800 students in the district lived in areas that were flooded and many will be considered homeless under federal education law. That designation opens up additional resources for cash-strapped schools.

Area superintendents said it is still too soon to determine just how much this will affect their bottom line.

"We are just hoping to get by with what we have, even though some of our students would probably be considered homeless," Thompson said. "We just don't have a grip yet on how many that is. Cedar Rapids and other larger communities are probably better skilled at dealing with that, but it is difficult for us to be experts in that area."

That said, many districts are expecting to see an additional increase in this year's fuel costs as they travel further to pick up children. But, like so many other things, it is still too early to tell just how greatly the changes will impact any district's bottom line.

Thompson said they are still working out the final agreements with neighboring school districts to determine if A-P buses can travel outside their district boundary lines to pick up displaced students. Under Iowa code one school district's bus cannot enter another district to pick up students unless the arrangement has been approved by both districts.

"If anyone won't work with us, we can also set up a pick-up point near the district border and parents can drive their kids to the boundaries where we can pick them up," Thompson said. "It is also conceivable, that if a district wanted to help out they could pick up a kid and bring them to the pick-up spot as well."

Ron Russell said he is still waiting to hear how his daughter, Emily, will be getting to school this fall.

"When we registered her and told her where we were living they said they were making arrangements for a bus to pick her up," Russell said. "But, we may have to drive a mile or two to get her to the stop. It won't be an issue for us, but I would imagine for some families, it will be."

The extra time and cost is worth it to give his fifth-grade daughter some sense of normalcy.

"Her life has been interrupted enough. This has been a summer where she hasn't really seen many of her friends," he said. "When they are staying in Grundy Center and Dike and Cedar Falls, you lose touch with everyone. Without a Kwik Star in town where you see everyone coming and going, you just don't know where everyone is."

Waiting game

No matter how hard school officials worked this summer they all say everything could change on the first day of school.

"We don't have an exact count. The reality is we will lost some, but we don't anticipate losing more than five or 10 kids and that is great news," Thompson said. "It's been very hard to contact people. You just have to hope their forwarding addresses work."

Miller said early registration was even more important than usual in Waterloo, especially in the hard-hit areas. The district has made plans for expected enrollment trends, but has contingency plans ready, just in case. Early registration has shown a few new students at some Waterloo schools, though at least some of them moved into the district permanently after their home was destroyed by the tornado or water.

"We are always adjusting staff even in a typical year," she said. "This year, we may just have to do a little more. But, it is always better to move staff than students."

Lindsey Beecher, the Dike-New Hartford superintendent, said he has no way of even guessing the number of students who were displaced in New Hartford, which saw double devastation this summer at the hands of both the tornado and flood. The New Hartford Elementary school was heavily damaged by the flood, but volunteers worked tirelessly after the waters receded to get the building ready for students Monday.

Now, he is waiting for the first day of school to see just how many students are coming back.

"We sent out an information packet, following the guidelines from the Department of Education, but it could be an interesting first couple of weeks," he said.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.