With the post-Hurricane Ike clean-up looking like a long job, Austin ISD is preparing for the complex job of being both a school system and temporary refugee agency.

All schools will re-open Monday morning as normal. Currently, Crockett High School, Small Middle School and the Delco Activity Center are being used as evacuee shelters, but the district is working to ensure the safety of staff, students and evacuees. The expectation is for all campus shelters to be cleared by Tuesday as evacuees are “consolidated” at the Convention Center, and then the search will be on for potential longer-term shelters not on campuses. More information on the Ike response can be found at their dedicated web page.

Don’t underestimate the scale of the need: As of 11am Sunday, the city of Austin estimates there 3,879 general needs evacuees and 98 special needs evacuees at 20 shelters around Austin, and that doesn’t include people staying with friends and family. See below the jump for the full AISD press release.

All classes in the Austin Independent School District will resume on their regular schedule, beginning Monday morning, September 15, 2008.

Although several Austin school facilities may still be used on Monday to house evacuees from Hurricane Ike, AISD has procedures in place to ensure that classes can resume safely and orderly on Monday morning.

A list of the District facilities that are still being utilized as evacuee shelters is available on the AISD website. Officials with the Austin Emergency Operations Center and the American Red Cross advised Central Texas school officials on Sunday afternoon that they hope to have all campus shelters closed by Tuesday.

Several Austin-area facilities, but not school campuses, are being considered as long-term shelters for those evacuees who may need temporary housing for up to three weeks.

Also available on the AISD Website is a Q&A document for parents that explains the procedures that the District will use to ensure the safety of students and school staff in the event a campus is still being used as a temporary shelter on Monday, and possibly on Tuesday, of next week.

This article appears in September 12 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.