SVUSD weighs blackout-closure policy

Sonoma Valley students missed seven days of school in October as a result of PG&E so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs – begging the question for parents, students and staff: What will become of those lost school days?

At the Nov. 5 meeting of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board of trustees, district superintendent Socorro Shiels told the board and community members that her staff was working on both a plan for the missed days and determining the questions that need to be asked as part of the school closure decision-making process going forward. The topic will be discussed again at the Nov. 19 board meeting.

Using a “School Closure Decision Checklist” template from the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities as a template, district staff has developed a list of questions for Sonoma Valley school sites that includes such issues as:

Is there cell or phone service or other ways to communicate with families?

Is there heat or air conditioning? Adequate natural light for instruction to take place?

Can enough staff show up to provide adequate supervision?

Is bus transportation available, as well as effective means of evacuation if needed?

Is there water, food for the students and do the restrooms work?

Are the school fire alarms working?

What if the power outage occurs mid-day?

“These are complex issues we have to consider in terms of safety, instruction… life,” said Shiels.

She said that she doesn’t expect to establish any kind of hard and fast rule – “check at least seven boxes and we’ll close,” she said as an example – but, instead, the document will serve as a guide on what to consider.

“It will assist us in making the call about whether to close as well as help communicate the rationale behind our decision,” said associate superintendent Bruce Abbott. “Parents want to know what factors we are using to decide.”

The Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) has been working closely with school districts to develop protocols for possible shutoffs, but each school district independently decides whether to close, based on local conditions.

Abbott and Shiels told the board on Nov. 5 that they are looking at what circumstances would cause the district to open some schools and not others. And what the result of that would be.

“Initially we thought, we should close all sites if the power goes down,” said Shiels. But the next time, she said, if the city had power and the Valley did not, “We need to talk collectively, about whether we should open some schools and not others.” And how would it be handled if some schools need to make up minutes and not others.

Shiels expects to spend the next year continuing to focus on solutions and preparedness.

“Going forward, we need to be prepared to be surprised,” she said.

As for the seven days missed in October, Shiels said that her staff is looking at the remaining school calendar to see if any scheduled professional development days can be taken back, but that she needs to further consult with school staff before proceeding with that option.

The California Department of Education has put Sonoma County on notice that fire-related days, much like “snow days” in colder climates, have to be planned as they are expected to become a yearly occurrence. While the state does give credit for missed days due to unexpected emergencies, going forward, PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) days will not be considered unexpected, so the district should need to plan for missed days.

Power outages and fires closed 1,510 schools in California, affecting more than 587,000 students, between Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, Scott Roark, spokesman for the California Department of Education, told Ed Source on Nov. 5. In the same article, El Dorado School District Superintendent Ron Carruth is quoted as saying that his district canceled school on more days this year than it has in the past 20 years.

Whether or not the term “the new normal” is appropriate is a subject of some local debate, but either way, Sonoma Valley Unified will officially need to build fire-smoke-power days into the school calendar for next year, and going forward, said Abbott.

As for the days missed so far, Abbott said that no decision has been made yet.

“We are still reviewing how to handle them,” he said.

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.