Schools across Southern California impacted by devastating wildfires this month are working to ensure students, families and staff are safe and have basic needs — all while attempting to restart instruction and as-normal-as-possible school routines after school closures.
At least 335 schools from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and San Diego counties had closed temporarily when fires broke out last week, affecting more than 211,000 students, according to the California Department of Education.
Two schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District — Palisades Charter Elementary and Marquez Charter Elementary — will need to be rebuilt due to fire damage, LAUSD said in a Jan. 13 statement.
At an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to highlight U.S. Department of Education initiatives under the Biden administration, Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, who previously served as superintendent of San Diego Unified School District, said the area is close-knit and that people have been "deeply affected" by the destructive wildfires.
"What we know is that precious schools have burned down and communities are reeling," said Marten, adding that the U.S. Education Department will provide training and funding to communities affected by the disaster.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CAL FIRE, 40,695 acres have burned and more than 12,300 structures have been destroyed. Several fires that started Jan. 7 or after still have not been fully contained.
Most schools in LAUSD — the second largest school system in the nation — reopened Monday after district employees cleaned schools and others worked "around the clock" over the weekend to ensure campuses were safe for students and staff, a Jan. 13 district statement said. By Wednesday, outdoor activities including P.E. and recess could resume at all campuses pending local conditions, and students at the two schools destroyed by fire were relocated to two other campuses, the district said.
"We have a unique opportunity to show the strength and resilience of our community in the face of adversity,” said Pamela Magee, executive director and principal of Palisades Charter High School, in a statement Jan 13. “By coming together, we can ensure that our students can stay in their learning environment, with their friends and mentors, at a time when they need it most.”
Schools in Malibu are closed through at least Jan. 21, while Santa Monica schools are open, according to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The district and its partners have organized optional gathering spaces for children and teens displaced by the fires and not in school.
In the Pasadena Unified School District, more than 1,300 Pasadena USD staff members had homes within the burn zone, and the district is still determining the exact number of students and families impacted. That number is anticipated to be in the thousands, according to the California Department of Education.
The district is closed through Jan. 17, although students had access to optional, self-directed learning options, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco wrote in a statement to the school district community Jan. 10.
"The health and safety of our PUSD community remain our highest priority as we navigate the significant impact of the fire on so many of our students, families, and staff," said Blanco, adding that nearly half of the district's employees live within the fire evacuation zone and that many staff, students and families lost their homes.
Odyssey Charter Schools, South Campus, in Altadena, California, and authorized by PUSD, was destroyed by the Eaton fire on Jan. 8. The 7-year-old school served about 375 students in grades TK-8.
"While our campus is closed, Odyssey Charter Schools South continues and will move forward stronger than ever. We've already built this school from an idea to a full institution. Then we rebuilt it again online during COVID and we built it a third time when we had to relocate so we are a resilient community and we already weathered many challenges," said a video showing the fire's destruction to the campus.
Providing basic needs, making adjustments
With the widespread impact of the wildfires and ongoing firefighting, the focus on learning is taking a backseat to supplying students, families and school employees with basic needs.
According to the California School Employees Association, Los Angeles Chapter 500, a union that represents school employees in LAUSD, the district is providing employees displaced from their primary residence up to five days paid time off, as well as $500 per displaced employee to help with short-term costs.
LAUSD has set up support hotlines for families and employees and posted resources for child care, food, transportation and housing assistance. Other area districts are doing the same.
To help children and their families impacted by the fires, the California Department of Education has partnered with SupplyBank.org to collect donations for school communities and their disaster relief efforts.
“In times of crisis, Californians consistently demonstrate their resilience and generosity as we continue to deal with the effects of climate change," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, in a Jan. 8 statement. "Let’s continue to unite and support those in need as they work to stay safe and rebuild.”
Los Angeles-area students are also being supported by charitable efforts from schools across the country. In Maryland, the Anne Arundel County Public Schools has created a donation drive titled #LiftLA.
"The rebuilding of Los Angeles will take years, if not decades,” said AACPS Superintendent of Schools Mark Bedell in a Jan. 16 statement. “Our efforts can make a difference for children we may never meet, but whose lives can be bettered by our generosity.”
In California, the fires have also led to adjustments with certain education requirements and deadlines. An executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 14 addresses certain rules for early childhood education and K-12, including:
- Waivers of regulations to allow childcare providers to accommodate additional children displaced by fires.
- A directive for school districts to immediately enroll any student who is unhoused due to the fires.
- The requirement that school systems continue to serve enrolled students who are displaced and are temporarily living outside their home district boundaries in the greater Los Angeles area.
- The suspension of class-size requirements for transitional kindergarten classrooms.
- The option for affected school systems to suspend adherence to a 180-day or 175-day school year calendar.
Additionally, the California Student Aid Commission has extended the March 3 priority state aid deadline to April 2 for high school students and California community college students in Los Angeles and Ventura counties seeking to attend or transfer to a four-year university.
