Los Angeles school officials on Monday launched an expansive review at some 1,000 campuses closed Monday in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary, as parents scrambled for child care and teachers posted online assignments.
With regular meals for students unavailable, the school system is setting up 13 locations for parents to pick up food between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The L.A. Unified School District is a major source of weekday nutrition, with 80% of students qualifying for a free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch, and, in some areas, dinner as well.
Teachers were instructed to report for work — from home — at 10 a.m. and have assignments posted for students by 10:30 a.m.
The school closures sent parents scrambling for child care. With few backup options available, many Southern California children will be having a TV day, some parents said.
Supt. Alberto Carvalho said that district schools — which are scattered across 700 square miles — escaped significant storm damage, but internet and phone service was down for at least 24 campuses and access to some schools was difficult in the morning, especially in the Sun Valley area.
Other school systems in the region — including several in harder-hit areas — also closed campuses for the day, while many others remained opened.
Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Fullerton canceled the first day of fall classes and San Diego State shifted to virtual instruction. All three campuses planned to resume in-person classes on Tuesday. Classes at UC campuses in Southern California have not started.
Floodwaters rush past Pearblossom Elementary School, part of the Keppel Union School District in the Antelope Valley, whose campuses will be closed Monday.
(Chris Minsal)
For some parents Monday felt like a rerun of pandemic learning.
At home in East Hollywood, Paula Meneses’ three kids slept in. Their father took the day off to stay with them as she ran errands in the morning.
She planned to have them spend the day working on assignments their teachers posted online. Though she wasn’t sure what her high school and middle school daughters would be working on, she had already looked through her fourth-grade son’s school work. He would primarily be working on reading and comprehension Monday, she said.
“We’re managing this all right,” Meneses said.
Five-year-old Bernadette Gershon just started kindergarten last week at an LAUSD charter school. But Monday she was planning a day filled with “The Little Mermaid,” “Avatar,” and possibly a trip to the movies to see “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. “
Her mom, Candice Vega, works from home an an accountant for a small studio, but with quarterly reports due soon, work is just too busy to take the day off.
“What I usually do on days like this is leave out lots of snacks and the TV on, and I let her entertain herself for as long as possible.”
During a Monday morning news conference at the city’s emergency operations center with regional officials, Carvalho defended in detail the decision to close campuses for the day in light of the unknown potential impact and the overnight peak of the storm.
He said the district’s pandemic experience has prepared it well for a short-term closure. All students, he said, should have computers available at home and all but a few should have internet access. He said he also understood that some family situations would make it difficult for students to complete schoolwork.
Schools will resume a normal schedule on Tuesday.
“I know some will criticize the decision, but decisions are informed by scientific data and conditions as they are presented to us based on the best information available,” Carvalho said.
The closure allowed for safety inspections that could not take place overnight: “Without the ability of conducting those necessary inspections, it would have been reckless for us to make a different decision,” Carvalho said.
Carvalho previously served as superintendent of the Miami-Dade County schools and said that closing campuses for a weather event such as this would be automatic there. He added that there were other issues significant enough to have complicated any attempt to open L.A. schools Monday morning.
These challenges included a mudslide at Marlton School in Baldwin Hills, a campus that serves children who are deaf and hard of hearing. However, he added that the mud has been cleared away by 9 a.m.
Other problems in Sun Valley affected roads and access to campuses and bus yards, Carvalho said. Bus drivers normally report to work as early as 4:30 a.m.
“There were predictions of wind speeds anywhere between 35 miles an hour and gusts exceeding 70 miles an hour,” Carvalho said. “Folks, our bus fleet cannot roll out when winds exceed the speeds of 35 miles per hour. That is the standard.”
“A significant percentage of our workforce resides outside of the city of Los Angeles,” he added. “We know today that some of the access highways have been impacted.”
The school system has about 75,000 employees and serves about 430,000 students.
Monday’s cancellation applied to all school-related activities involving students, including after-school supervision and sports.
Carvalho had said on Sunday that he expected that the operators of independent charter schools — who enroll more than 100,000 students — to follow the lead of L.A. Unified. He advised families in charter schools to check in with their school leaders.
By late Sunday night, 16 of 80 school districts in L.A. County had announced a Monday shutdown, a decision under the jurisdiction of local district officials. The Pasadena Unified, Lancaster and Keppel Union districts were among those that posted word online of one-day closures. Keppel, like Lancaster, is in the Antelope Valley.
In Riverside County, Palm Springs schools are closed, and San Diego Unified postponed its first day of school.
Flooding in front of South Gate High School on Sunday afternoon in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary.
(L.A. Unified School District)
L.A. Unified began its school year on Aug. 14 and Carvalho has emphasized the need to improve attendance. He said he was encouraged about these efforts in spite of the setback from the storm. He said attendance started off at about 91% but rose to close to 95% by the end of the first week of classes, a rate that approaches pre-pandemic levels.
Parents are advised to follow the school district and their children’s individual campuses on social media and to remain alert to phone, text and email advisories for updates.
A similar scenario for families unfolded in other school systems, including Pasadena Unified.
“With the safety and well-being of our students, employees and their families as our highest priority, we have decided to close PUSD schools,” interim Supt. Elizabeth J. Blanco posted online. “We want everyone to stay safe and avoid any unnecessary travel or exposure to dangerous road conditions. This includes athletic events and any third-party activities on PUSD campuses.”
In Pasadena, 10 a.m. also was the call time for administrators, maintenance and operations staff to report for duty. District officials are organizing food distribution sites for students.