Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order that removes bureaucratic red tape to help displaced students, families and campuses impacted by fires in L.A. County.
The order, signed on Tuesday, seeks to:
Suspend multiple state rules to allow displaced students to attend school outside of their district;
Ease the way for schools damaged or destroyed in the fires to use temporary facilities; and
Enables schools to avoid penalties for not meeting minimum school-year attendance requirements.
The order also directs state agencies to work with schools with destroyed or damaged schools to develop a plan for serving displaced students and rebuilding, according to an announcement from Newsom’s office.
“The executive order I signed today will help bring back some sense of normalcy for our youth by eliminating barriers to getting them back learning in school,” Newsom said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond helps distribute Grab & Go meals to students and families impacted by the Eaton Fire in need at Madison Elementary School in Pasadena on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025…(Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
That normalcy was shattered on Jan. 7, when the Palisades and Eaton fires exploded on opposite sides of the county. As the dust settles a week later, thousands have lost homes and businesses, and schools districts saw teachers, staffs, students and their families displaced.
More than 20 area school districts closed their campuses last week because of the fires.
Pasadena Unified School District, which serves the areas hit hardest by the Eaton fire, announced Friday, Jan. 10, that schools will remain closed until Friday, Jan. 17, due to the severe impact. Meanwhile, a member of the teachers’ union said Friday as many as 300 of its members have lost homes to the massive blaze.
Schools across the Los Angeles region — from Malibu to Pasadena — are continuing to grapple with intense impacts from ongoing fires in the region.
Multiple schools have been destroyed or damaged by the flames.
With firefighters reporting progress on the multiple blazes around the L.A. area, but fires still burning, the Los Angeles Unified School District reopened most of its schools and all its offices today.
“Conditions have improved for a majority of areas across the Los Angeles region and the District is confident it is safe for students and employees to return to campuses,” the district said in a statement Sunday.
However, some schools in the most severely impacted fire areas will remain closed due to mandatory evacuation orders, the district said.
Carvalho also said the district was aiming to provide support to its workforce, offering $500 to each employee displaced by a fire.
All Santa Monica campuses in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District were open Monday, except for Roosevelt Elementary School. Roosevelt will reopen Tuesday. All Malibu campuses in the district will remain closed through Wednesday.
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