Schools

SPUSD Works Towards Emergency Preparedness

With parents disappointed at how the district handled school closings in wake of the windstorm, SPUSD offered solutions at Tuesday's board meeting.

announced would be closed at about 8:13 a.m. the morning after the windstorm hit. About 20 minutes later, that the rest of the district would close too. 

Since class was already in session, students were dismissed. Some walked home or to nearby hangouts like In-N-Out Burger. Others got picked up from parents or neighbors. 

"[At SPUSD the morning of Dec. 1], we had two schools without power, two with [power] and one with partial power," Shapiro told Patch Friday.

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We determined campuses were safe. The decision to close was based not on fear of unsafe conditions, but the overall condition of the community," he explained.

Parents Vent 

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lyn Yasumura was among two parents who came to vent frustrations at Tuesday's board meeting citing SPUSD's lack of communication and emergency preparedness during the aftermath of the windstorm. 

Yasumura reiterated to the board the concerns she expressed —stressing the importance that each campus have an individual policy on how students are released.

"Children who walk home, just left [school]. They walked towards downed power lines, downed trees," she said of the conditions that morning. "There was very little accountability as to where those children were or who people were leaving with." 

Room for Improvement

Shapiro admits the district has room for improvement in its emergency planning, and says it's begun taking steps in the right direction.

"Today, in fact, we had a team from Red Cross visiting one gym to start the process to make it a [certified] shelter," Shapiro told parents at SPUSD's board meeting Tuesday night. 

To enhance communication, district administrators can now access the Blackboard Connect phone system via remote locations. "[This will] get information out in the future in a more timely manner," Shapiro explained.

A Citywide Plan 

The district also plans to work with the City to create a joint emergency operation center. Whether it be a website or emergency hotline, Shapiro could not provide details—but the idea would be to have all information available in one location.

"Frankly, we have a lot to learn and a lot to improve upon," Shapiro said. 

"...We tend to practice a lot of procedures when students are in school—but we learned something. We need to have better plans in practice for the kind of event that happens before school."

School board member Richard Sonner echoed Shapiro's thoughts.  

"This was bad. We need to learn from it. But we need to realize this is small compared to what could happen," he said Tuesday. 

Related: 


 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from South Pasadena