LOS ANGELES (CNS) – As Los Angeles Unified School District prepares to for the first day of school on Aug. 12, officials announced Friday they expanded efforts to clean and prepare campuses, with an intense focus on 54 sites located within three miles of the Lineage Logistics warehouse in Boyle Heights.
All campuses in nearby communities of the burned-out cold-storage warehouse received deep, thorough cleaning, and have had air purifiers installed in every classroom. The district also had filters in all air- conditioning systems replaced.
LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait said they are committed to the health and well-being of every student.
“When extraordinary events, like the fire in Boyle Heights, affect our communities, we take every necessary step to ensure our schoolhouses are ready to welcome students back to environments that support learning, belonging and success,” Chait said in a statement. “It is a priority for me to continue to engage the community around our efforts, and that outreach will ramp up even more as we get closer to the first day of school.”
LAUSD Board of Education Vice President Rocío Rivas, who represents schools in Boyle Heights and East L.A., said he recognized that the warehouse fire that burned for about a week in June caused fear and disrupted the lives of families and students.
“As we welcome students back on August 12, we have worked diligently to prepare our campuses through deep cleaning, replacing HVAC filters, and installing air purifiers in every classroom. Our students deserve safe, healthy schools where they can learn, grow and thrive,” Rivas said in a statement.
District officials noted the Office of Environmental Health and Safety has played a leading role in inspecting and testing all campuses to ensure they are free of toxins that could be harmful to students and staff. The office is working in partnership with L.A. city and county agencies, and has provided assurance that campuses are safe for students and teachers to begin the instructional year as planned.
“To date, we found no evidence of hazardous conditions that would pose a risk to students or staff. Even so, we will continue to verify conditions every day because there is no substitute for being thorough when it comes to the health and safety of our school communities,” LAUSD Director of Environmental Health and Safety Carlos Torres said in a statement.
LAUSD had summer programs at several schools near the Lineage warehouse temporarily relocated during and immediately after the fire. District officials anticipate that relocations will not be necessary at the start of the school year.
District officials, however, noted that school operations administrators have been working around the clock to develop comprehensive contingency plans that will be implemented should conditions change.
Families with questions and concerns can meet with administrative staff on campuses. Teams from the district’s Region East office — led by pupil services and attendance counselors — have been canvassing neighborhoods, going door-to-door, speaking with families affirming campuses are ready for the school year.
LAUSD officials said the process is intended to answer questions, listen to concerns and to connect families and students with resources that meet their needs.
“We are assuring families that our schools are the safest places for their children to be,” LAUSD Region East Superintendent Lourdes Ramirez-Ortiz said in a statement. “I am proud of the way our teams have come together — nurses, counselors, maintenance crews, mental health workers and countless others — to ensure our schools continue to be strong hubs for our communities.”
LAUSD has worked in partnership with city and county agencies to link residents with assistance and resources in the aftermath of the fire. The Los Angeles Education Foundation, the philanthropic partner of the district, has provided $100,000 in direct cash assistance to 350 Los Angeles Unified families impacted by the warehouse fire, along with seven pallets of air purifiers to help address immediate health and safety needs.
The district will be hosting a series of informational webinars for families in affected areas, where they can receive the latest information from experts. Webinars are scheduled for Wednesday and Aug. 10.
Families with questions or requests for support are encouraged to call Los Angeles Unified Family Hotline at 213-443-1300. More information is available at east.lausd.org.
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