Classes resume in Fla. school after Wilma

Pupils missed more than two weeks of school in the wake of the hurricane.
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) -- Jaime Chehova spent two weeks getting supplies and decorations for her fourth-graders' first day of school in a new classroom -- for the second time this year.
The teacher welcomed her pupils Monday to a new portable classroom. Their other classroom at Park Trails Elementary in Parkland was damaged when Hurricane Wilma rushed across Florida two weeks ago.
"It was like the first day of school all over again. All the kids' stuff got destroyed. I had to hand out new pens, new books, all new supplies," Chehova said.
Public schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties reopened Monday for the first time since Wilma hit Florida on Oct. 24, causing billions of dollars in damage across the state and making many schools temporarily unusable.
The state's largest school district, Miami-Dade County, reopened last week.
Missed classes
Children missed more than two full weeks of classes, and educators worried about how they would make up for lost time.
"We're doing some testing to see how this affected them," said Nat Harrington, spokesman for the Palm Beach School District.
The district planned 15 emergency makeup days for this year's academic calendar, and officials have decided to make the first two, Veterans Day and Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, regular school days, Harrington said.
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