The area in green needs to be rebuilt at Palisades High School. The blue space is where temporary buildings would be put.
Three schools were affected in the Palisades Fire: Marquez, Palisades Elementary and Palisades Charter High School.
At the March 27 Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting LAUSD’s Division of School Operations Dr. Debra Bryant, who is overseeing all things “fire recovery,” Director of Facilities Issam Dahdul and Director of Environmental Safety Carlos Torres presented the next steps, took questions and promised there would be opportunities for parents to have a say.
Marquez Elementary School, with an enrollment of 312 students, located on 7.73 acres was deemed a total loss. The food service area, the auditorium, the playground, the administration building and 37 classrooms burned. The Army Corp of Engineers has removed the debris. The entire campus will have to be rebuilt with interim classrooms proposed.
At Palisades Elementary, which had 410 students and was located in the Village off Via de la Paz and Bowdoin, lost 17 classrooms, a multipurpose room play equipment and shade structures. ACE was working on removing the debris on that site last week and should be finished by this week.
Palisades Charter High School, even though it is fiscally independent of LAUSD, the school district owns the buildings and facilities. About 21 classrooms were destroyed, the synthetic track and field will need to be replaced, and storage facilities were also lost. The high school had an enrollment of 2,907 students. That site was cleared by the Corps by mid-February.
Fire debris was removed from the high school in mid-February.
LAUSD officials showed parents how each school might operate during construction. Basically, Marquez would be divided in half, with new construction on one half and students attending school in portable buildings on the other half.
Students would attend school in temporary classrooms in the “blue” space, while permanent buildings are constructed in the “green” space.
Palisades Elementary would also have portable classrooms on part of the campus, while construction occurs on a different part.
Rebuilding would be in the green area, while students attend school in the blue space.
On March 21, the Army Corps of Engineers had almost completed debris removal at Palisades Elementary.
At PaliHi, the portable classrooms would be placed on the baseball field in the northernmost part of the campus, while the track and the buildings immediately to the north of the school are rebuilt.
One person asked about the wisdom of construction while kids are on the campus. “We do it all the time,” Bryant said.
Another parent asked about kids staying at the campuses they’ve been moved to, until construction is completed before moving back to the Palisades. Marquez students have been moved to the Nora Sterry Elementary in West L.A. and Pali Elementary were moved to the Brentwood Science Magnet.
Palisades High School has gone to virtual learning for almost three months but there are plans to move into the Sears building in Santa Monica in April as a temporary campus.
Another parent objected to moving kids back on campus while there was debris removal underway, or while new homes were being constructed. A later presentation by the Corps at the Council meeting noted that they planned to have more than 60 percent of all properties cleared by the end of May.
Torres addressed environmental concerns. He said that the campuses would be monitored and they would be able to tell if anything came from outside the campus. Today, a resident living in Pacific Palisades sent a photo of the air tester that was on the steps of Palisades Elementary.
Torres said that at Canyon Elementary School, which was not damaged by the fire, there has been continuous testing and there is no longer any fire-related metals such as lead and arsenic. “We want to make sure that students are safe when they are on campus,” Torres said.
Currently, Canyon School is under construction to replace the portables on campus with a two-story, seven-classroom building along Amalfi. The lower three classrooms would be for kindergarten, and it would include a separate playground. Next to it would be a one-story science building.
Parents have experienced delays getting to Canyon School because of all the road closures into Pacific Palisades and also the heavy construction traffic.
Another parent asked where the money would come from to replace the campuses. Previously, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho committed $725 million to rebuild the three schools. According to Bryant, the money to rebuild will come from the $9 billion school bond, a property tax increase that was approved by voters in November 2024.
A tentative meeting about these school plans is scheduled with the Palisades Community on April 9.
Marquez Elementary will have to be totally rebuilt.
I am concerned about kids returning to schools that are actively undergoing construction of multiple buildings. What about the distraction of noise and activity or possible danger to the students? Why can’t they stay where they are until construction is completed? What about the children who are suffering PTSD from the fires? Might moving back to a shell of their former school trigger those emotions? So many of the students including my granddaughter are adjusting beautifully to the new school location. Hopefully, LAUSD will think this through and do what is best for the students.
Growing up as a kid of a shop teacher, I find construction fascinating–and it is already going on at Canyon. I think people have to look at the timeline–I don’t think LAUSD is asking kids to move back to these school sites now. But that said, each family has to make the decision that is best for their family. If a school opens in Palisades in the fall–which is the current prediction for the High School–I think each family need to decide what is best for them. For elementary students, if a family wants to keep their child at the current location, I don’t know why they can’t.
sue
The worst part of all this is that Pali High will destroy the baseball field and essentially ruin the baseball program at this school. Rather than choosing to relocate classrooms in empty spaces throughout the school, LAUSD is insistent upon destroying an expensive field that is used by groups throughout the Palisades as well as by other LAUSD schools that do not have Home fields. The baseball program is a longstanding, nationally recognized program, currently the subject of a documentary film, and Pali has offered no viable alternative field options. These kids have lost their homes, their community, many friends… the baseball players should not have to lose the one sport keeping them afloat.
I agree, I don’t think LAUSD should take away the baseball field. There has to be another option.
Sue