NATCHEZ &045;&045; More than 1,000 evacuee children were enrolled in Miss-Lou schools as of Friday, and everyone expects the numbers to keep climbing.

At Frazier Primary School in Natchez, there were enough new second-graders to fill all existing classes to the max and create a brand new 26-person class.

At Ferriday Lower Elementary, 91 new students have changed the character of the school right down to specially assigned recess buddies.

Evacuee numbers at both public school districts and most private schools have overwhelmed administrators who were mentally prepared for smaller increases. And everyone has moved to plan B.

&uot;In my actual planning over the summer I had a plan A and a plan B,&uot; Frazier Primary Principal Lorraine Franklin said. &uot;I left one slot for music, one slot for P.E., one slot for library and even one slot in the lunchroom.&uot;

Franklin’s plan B was based on predictions that Frazier would face an overcrowding problem and might need an extra class that would fill those open slots.

A teacher and aide from West Primary were scheduled to be transferred over to open a new class, pre-Hurricane Katrina.

Post-Hurricane Katrina, the new class was opened, but immediately filled with evacuees.

The remainder of the Frazier classrooms now have between 28 and 29 students each.

&uot;That’s more than I would like,&uot; Franklin said. &uot;We are waiting to see what’s going to happen. The personnel director would look at the numbers and make a decision (about hiring additional teachers).

&uot;We’ve got to keep in mind that some (students) might stay, but some could be leaving.&uot;

It’s that same thought that has administrators at all other schools hanging in limbo before making school altering decisions.

At Cathedral, 140 new students mean the two fifth-grade classes are just about maxed out, with 28 and 29 students, Principal Pat Sanguinetti said.

But the teachers have asked to keep things the way they are now, for the sake of some normalcy.

Sanguinetti said if numbers stay the same or grow, the issue will be revisited.

Only students previously enrolled in a Catholic school are allowed to enroll at Cathedral now.

At Robert Lewis Middle School, Principal Bettye Bell is hoping to avoid a major undertaking.

Eighty-three new students at the Natchez public school have class sizes at the threshold, and plan B is one of extreme measures &045;&045; switching from a six-period day to a seven-period day.

&uot;One schedule change can affect everything you do,&uot; she said. &uot;To go from six periods to seven periods is monumental.

&uot;The thing we are looking at is how much additional help we can get from teacher assistants or volunteers.&uot;

Hiring new teachers is a possibility, the superintendent has said, but no decisions have been made yet.

Seventh-grade math and English classes are running 29 students. Bell wants no more than 24.

Evacuee students in Concordia Parish schools totaled 470 Friday. Every school is affected, but FLES is nearly inundated.

&uot;It’s been trying,&uot; Assistant Principal Sheila Alwood said. &uot;But everybody has gone overboard to make them feel welcome.&uot;

With teacher-pupil ratios already small at the school, no one teacher has more than she can handle, Alwood said. Class sizes are running around 22 in the pre-kindergarten through second-grade school.

&uot;Each teacher is taking on several more students and making the best of it,&uot; she said. &uot;It has taken on a different character. The kids even know what’s happening and they help.&uot;

Every Miss-Lou school has gained some students including: five at Adams County Christian School; six at Holy Family Catholic School; 22 at Huntington School and 30 at Trinity Episcopal Day School.

The Adams Jefferson Franklin County Head Start program in Natchez has 50 evacuees. The Clayton Head Start has 16.

The Natchez-Adams district had around 450 new students Friday. The total number of evacuees in public, private or parochial pre-K through 12 schools in the Miss-Lou was 1,123. Adding the 66 in preschool programs brings that total to 1,189.