wdsu.com: https://www.wdsu.com/article/longtime-st-bernard-parish-superintendent-who-led-hurricane-katrina-recovery-retiring-after-55-years/71372516

Speaker: —
Subject: K000393
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Thursday, May 21, 2026

THOUGH SHE DECIDED TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS, TRACKING DOWN CLASSROOM TRAILERS HERSELF TO SET UP WHAT BECAME THE SAINT BERNARD UNIFIED SCHOOL, MIRACULOUSLY OPENING UP ONLY 11 WEEKS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA, HER RECOVERY EFFORTS EVEN LANDED HER THE JOHN F KENNEDY PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD, AND IN HER DECADES LONG CAREER, STEERING THROUGH THE STORM IS UNDERSTANDABLY HER PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT BECAUSE WE NOT ONLY BROUGHT BACK A SCHOOL SYSTEM, WE WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING BACK THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT BERNARD.

Full text

3,000 chars

St. Bernard Parish superintendent who led Hurricane Katrina recovery retiring after 55 years Skip to content NOWCAST WDSU News at Noon Watch on Demand Menu Search News Policies News Local News National News WDSU Investigates Northshore News Entertainment Carnival Central News We Love Upload Weather Alerts Radar Hurricanes Map Room Traffic Road Patrol Politics Hot Seat Get the Facts Project CommUNITY Sports Saints Pelicans Olympics Contests Advertise with WDSU About Careers News Team Very Local Titan TV Guide Editorials Contact MeTV Privacy Notice Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search Type to Search Search location by ZIP code ZIP Advertisement Longtime St. Bernard Parish superintendent who led Hurricane Katrina recovery retiring after 55 years Longtime St. Bernard Parish superintendent who led Hurricane Katrina recovery retiring after 55 years ALL RIGHT. THIS MORNING, THOUSANDS OF SAINT BERNARD STUDENTS ARE GETTING READY FOR THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. WHILE THEIR LONGTIME SUPERINTENDENT IS ALSO MARKING THE END OF AN ERA. MISS DOROTHY, SHE ANNOUNCED HER PLANS TO RETIRE AFTER DECADES WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, WHICH SHE NOTABLY SHEPHERDED THROUGH HURRICANE KATRINA. I TALKED WITH HER ABOUT THE TESTS, THE TRIUMPHS, AND WHAT COMES NEXT. NOW, AFTER MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY OF SERVICE. I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW CLOSE IT’S GETTING. THIS STORY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN A NEW CHAPTER. RETIRING NEXT MONTH FROM HER LONGTIME ROLE AS SAINT BERNARD PARISH PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. ON THE ONE HAND, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. I’LL BE SPENDING MORE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND SUCH. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THIS HAS BEEN MY LIFE FOR 55 YEARS. TRULY AN UNBELIEVABLE TENURE THAT HAS SHAPED GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS. BOTH. SHE STARTED TEACHING MATH AT CHALMETTE HIGH IN 1971. SHE WAS EVENTUALLY RECRUITED TO THE CENTRAL OFFICE BEFORE BEING TAPPED AS SUPERINTENDENT IN 2004. MY WHOLE INTENT AT THAT TIME WAS GOING TO BE MOVING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FORWARD ACADEMICALLY. HAD MY PLAN IN PLACE, EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO GO GREAT, I THOUGHT. AND THEN KATRINA HIT A LIFE ALTERING DISASTER UNLIKE ANY OTHER, LEAVING THE ENTIRE PARISH AND SCHOOL SYSTEM. SHE SERVED DECIMATED. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE THE WHEN EVERY SCHOOL, FROM THE SCHOOL SYSTEM’S POINT OF VIEW, NOT A SCHOOL THAT WAS UNTOUCHED, THAT THERE WERE NO FACILITIES LEFT, NO INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS LEFT, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, NO STUDENTS AND FAMILIES. THOUGH SHE DECIDED TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS, TRACKING DOWN CLASSROOM TRAILERS HERSELF TO SET UP WHAT BECAME THE SAINT BERNARD UNIFIED SCHOOL, MIRACULOUSLY OPENING UP ONLY 11 WEEKS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA, HER RECOVERY EFFORTS EVEN LANDED HER THE JOHN F KENNEDY PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD, AND IN HER DECADES LONG CAREER, STEERING THROUGH THE STORM IS UNDERSTANDABLY HER PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT BECAUSE WE NOT ONLY BROUGHT BACK A SCHOOL SYSTEM, WE WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING BACK THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT BERNARD. IT IS EVIDENT THEN AND NOW THE CLASSROOM AND THE C

More on this subject

pac.dog is a free, independent, non-partisan research tool. Every candidate, committee, bill, vote, member, and nonprofit on this site is mirrored from primary U.S. government sources (FEC, congress.gov, govinfo.gov, IRS) and each state's Secretary of State / election commission — no third-party data vendors, no paywall, no editorial intermediation. Citations to the originating source are on every detail page.