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The U.S. Department of Education assists schools impacted by Hurricane Helene

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Resource hub offered to the community by Franklin School of Innovation in Asheville. Courtesy of Michelle Vruwink, Franklin School of Innovation

The U.S. Department of Education announced a series of resources and assistance programs for schools and communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

These initiatives can benefit school leaders, families, individuals seeking help for their mental health, student loan borrowers, and other stakeholders. 

“Increasingly powerful storms like Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton not only threaten lives and livelihoods, but also disrupt learning and leave students and their families facing displacement and other heartbreaking challenges,”  Miguel Cardona, the secretary of education, said. 

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The department offers a variety of services to K-12 school districts as well as institutions of higher learning. 

Several forms of technical assistance have been provided to elementary and secondary schools. For instance, the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center helps schools to be more prepared to respond to natural disasters–proactively, and reactively. The department also provides resources for students experiencing homelessness, with disabilities, and fulfilling their emotional needs when they transition back to the classroom. 

Flexibilities that the department offers to colleges and universities include the ability to change their academic calenda , and help for students who may need to take a leave of absence. The department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) offers to help students avoid reductions in the amount of federal aid they receive due to any natural disaster aid they may get.

So far, the FSA said they have reached out to hundreds of schools and community stakeholders in areas impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton to offer assistance.

Student loan borrowers who were impacted by the hurricanes can seek forbearance. Forbearance is when loan payments are temporarily postponed so that the borrower does not default. Impacted borrowers who have a Direct Loan or a federally serviced Federal Family Education Loan who miss their payments will be automatically placed into a natural disaster forbearance. This also applies to those who are on a public service loan forgiveness or income-driven repayment plan.

Individuals with a Perkins loan should reach out to their lender directly to make arrangements. 

The department has worked to inform institutions of different financial assistance opportunities, such as Project SERV funds. The department is also looking for a way to give program flexibility, which can include extended grant application windows and waivers.   

“As President Biden and Vice President Harris organize a whole-of-government response to these immense natural disasters, I have directed our team at the Department of Education to leverage every possible resource available to meet the needs of impacted students, families, and school communities,” Cardona said. “From helping schools restore healthy learning communities for students, to supporting college campuses battered by these storms, to protecting student loan borrowers from going into default, we will do everything we can to help our fellow Americans in their time of need.”  

More information on what the department offers communities impacted by a natural disaster is available here.