October 24, 2007
NEWS ADVISORY
CONTACT: Jim Esterbrooks
858 292-3719
Cell 619 987-6956
Uncertainty of Fires and Winds Likely to Lead to Different Re-Start
Times for San Diego County School Districts
LINDA VISTA 11:30 A.M. Local school district superintendents agreed this morning that changing weather patterns and the uncertain status of wildfires will likely lead to different dates when schools are re-opened.
In a 75-minute conference call with the County Office of Education¹s Incident Command staff, the superintendents cited the significant weather changes over the last 24 hours, as well as the on-going and uncontained fires still burning, as reasons for the uncertainty in making any school re-opening decisions.
It is possible that separate campuses within the same school districts will re-start at different times, superintendents agreed.
In the meantime, the superintendents re-affirmed their Tuesday decision to cancel all school-related activities through the weekend, including high school sports and all training and staff development activities.
School clean-up activities will commence once fires are contained, air quality is acceptable and campuses are safe. Clean-up efforts must follow specific guidelines, which are detailed on-line at www.sdcoe.net.
Superintendents are using emails and phone-trees to get in-touch with their respective staffs. The superintendents did not provide estimates on the number of displaced and evacuated teachers and other employees, but the number easily exceeds 1,000.
Schools throughout the county are serving as evacuation centers; housing residents, elderly patients of residential care facilities, pets and farm animals. Because so many teachers have been displaced, superintendents are expecting substitute teachers to be at a premium when schools re-open.
County Superintendent of Schools Randy Ward, serving as Incident Commander at the County Office of Education¹s Incident Command Center, told the superintendents he will work with State Superintendent of Public Instructions Jack O¹Connell on legislation that will ease Class Size Reduction requirements during the time schools are recovering from the fires.
O¹Connell, who had planned to be in San Diego Thursday to address superintendents on the topic of the achievement gap, spoke with Ward Tuesday about such legislation and pledged his support. The two school leaders have spoken repeatedly since the fires broke-out.
Superintendents were informed that the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act contains provisions for school districts where students have been made homeless by the wildfires. Information on those NCLB provisions will be sent to superintendents and posted on www.sdcoe.net.
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