Los Angeles school officials will not make a decision about reopening campuses until late in the weekend, Supt. Alberto Carvalho said Friday morning.
Carvalho said that while weather conditions looked promising at the moment, there are too many uncertainties regarding wind conditions, air quality and the control of fires that continue to ravage the Pacific Palisades and Altadena area.
“It’s still a dynamic situation,” Carvalho said Friday while taking part in a food and diaper distribution at Liechty Middle School on the western edge of downtown.
“The concern with pulling the trigger too soon is a fire, a new fire, may flare up. So we’re going to try to establish a fair balance between the conditions, the timing of the announcement, for the safe return of kids and workforce.”
Campuses were closed in L.A. Unified on Thursday and Friday. The district tried to operate normally on Wednesday — when fires first erupted amid extreme winds — closing only an elementary campus in Topanga Canyon. But as the morning unfolded, officials evacuated four fire-threatened campuses.
Up to 200 other schools shut down before the end of the school day, although they were not imminently threatened by fire. Many of the other campuses lost power or internet. And students and employees had trouble getting in or simply stayed home.
As for Monday, L.A. Unified would monitor conditions through the weekend, Carvalho said, with the expectation of an announcement on Sunday.
“We would love to put something out today,” the superintendent added. “I don’t think it would be prudent.”
The decision faced by the nation’s second-largest school system is echoed at school systems across Los Angeles County.
Contacted earlier this week, a Pasadena Unified spokesperson said the district could not commit to reopening schools on Monday. Pasadena Unified has been especially hard hit — with five campuses suffering major damage from the fire that erupted Tuesday in Eaton Canyon.
The much-larger L.A. Unified has three damaged campuses in Pacific Palisades, where the region’s other most damaging fire has raged — fueled by high winds. Two elementary schools could be total losses.
Las Virgenes Unified did not lose any schools, but that area, too, was threatened by fire. Campuses were closed from Wednesday onward.
“I hope we can open on Monday,” said Supt. Dan Stepenosky, “but I’m hearing there is another high wind advisory scheduled.”
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