Most teachers in LA are losing their homes; students of 2 burned LA schools will resume classes

Students at two burned-out Los Angeles schools will resume classes Wednesday in new locations near Pacific Palisades as labor unions estimate that at least 150 district employees, including many teachers, have lost their homes.

Students who were attending Palisades Charter Elementary will transfer to Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet in Brentwood, an area near Pacific Palisades. Students who were at Marquez Charter Elementary will attend Nora Sterry Elementary in the Sawtelle neighborhood, which is south of Brentwood.

Officials announced the opening of the relocated schools at a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

The relocation plan keeps the communities of the two relocated schools intact, with the same teachers teaching the same students.

Over the weekend, some teachers at the host schools worked to move out of their current classrooms to allow the incoming groups to be together in some part of the campus. Immediately the incoming teachers plan to enter.

All 1,000 campuses in the region were closed last week on Thursday and Friday. All reopened on Monday except for the two campuses that were destroyed and the other seven that were affected by evacuation zones.

The teachers’ union said it has identified 148 workers on its behalf who lost their homes. United Teachers Los Angeles represents approximately 38,000 teachers, counselors, psychologists and nurses. The union said they knew that 550 had left since 3 pm on Monday.

A separate union, the California School Employees Assn., which represents school assistants, said two of its members lost their homes.

Together those two unions make up about half of the county’s workforce.

For affected employees, the district will provide five flexible days with pay, the amount of which is likely to increase, said LA Schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho.

Teachers union President Cecily Myart-Cruz and administration union president Maria Nichols slammed the Carvalho administration for not closing campuses after the Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires on Tuesday and the lack of communication that left principals and parents scrambling.

Carvalho acknowledged the problems but said it was not a lack of attention. The actions of the district, he said, are based on the goals created in 2021 after the big fire.

“This guide has one event in mind,” Carvalho said. “And by the way, this is in line with the level of preparedness and response announced by fire departments, municipal organizations, CAL FIRE. There has never been a level of preparation for three, four, five or six fires at the same time with the force of hurricanes, winds with a certain degree of instability and wind changes that were difficult to predict.”

On Wednesday, Carvalho said the air-level dashboards “didn’t match what I was seeing” and the conditions reported to him by the principal.

Carvalho decided to extend the school closures and even close schools in progress on Wednesday, which caused scheduling problems, but it seemed more prudent than waiting for a school day, he said.

He added that the district will review and improve future procedures.

The only other closure this week is Palisades High School, an LA Unified-run private charter school.

About 40% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed, Principal Pamela Magee wrote in an email to the school community.

Pali High aims to open next Tuesday, offering classes online while looking for a temporary location.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced measures to help schools recover and maintain funding. Among other things, the order temporarily suspends attendance, class size and residency requirements at affected institutions.

Statewide Monday, attendance was 87% across LA Unified, compared to 91% for the year as a whole. Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet’s attendance rate was 65%; at Sterry’s it was 79%.

The Eagle Rock area was disrupted by heavy smoke and strong winds and attendance was below normal in that area as well. At Eagle Rock Elementary, attendance was 84%, and at Eagle Rock High School, it was 90%.