CALIFORNIA — The devastating wildfires that began sweeping through Southern California on January 7 have left the region's education system reeling, with over a dozen schools severely damaged or destroyed.
As school officials begin the daunting task of rebuilding, they face an estimated cost of hundreds of millions of US dollars, with recovery expected to take years, reports Xinhua news agency.
At least 12 schools in Los Angeles County have suffered significant damage, with five campuses destroyed, according to CalMatters, a nonprofit news organisation focusing on local agendas in California. Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest school system, lost two elementary schools in Pacific Palisades, while Palisades Charter High School was heavily damaged. In Pasadena and Altadena, three additional elementary schools were destroyed.
The financial toll is overwhelming. Rebuilding could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. "Rebuilding these schools could take years," said Debra Duardo, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools.
One source of relief is California's Proposition 2, a 10-billion-dollar school construction bond passed in November to fund repairs and rebuild efforts, including damage from disasters like wildfires.
However, the fund is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is already a significant backlog of schools waiting for assistance. Priority will likely go to schools damaged by fires, raising concerns for districts with other urgent needs.
"There is a growing concern that Prop. 2 funds will be quickly depleted, leaving smaller districts like Keyes struggling to address our own long-term facility needs," said Helio Brasil, superintendent of Keyes Union School District, which serves low-income students near Modesto.
The California Legislature has approved a 2.5-billion-dollar fire relief package for the Los Angeles area. However, the rebuilding process will rely on multiple funding sources, including insurance, private grants, local bonds, lawsuit settlements, and both state and federal funds.
In the meantime, districts are scrambling for temporary solutions. The Los Angeles Unified School District has already relocated students from the two destroyed schools to other campuses and is focusing on providing mental health support for students and staff coping with trauma.
The impact extends far beyond rebuilding structures.
Thousands of students and staff have been displaced. In the Pasadena Unified School District, more than 1,300 staff members lost homes within the burn zone, and the district estimates that thousands of students and families have been affected.
"The pain of being evacuated, losing your home, or having family and friends who have been impacted... it's just so devastating," said Duardo.
"At so many districts in our county, the superintendent themselves has been evacuated, or 50 per cent of the staff has been evacuated. And meanwhile, they're all trying to help their students."
The rebuilding effort is further complicated by the need to prepare for future fire risks. With climate change increasing the likelihood of severe wildfires, there is growing debate about how to rebuild more resiliently.
"Are we just inviting another problem down the road?" asked Michael Hricak, an adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Southern California.
Past wildfire recovery efforts in California suggest the road to rebuilding will be long. In Sonoma County, the Anova Center for Education, destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, only reopened in early January, more than seven years later.
Devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire, the Paradise Unified School District has spent 155 million dollars rebuilding campuses but still needs an additional 150 million dollars to complete repairs.