Update Nov. 21: The Paradise Unified School District and Butte County Office of Education have a plan to get school kids back in some form of classroom. Only one of the nine Paradise schools escaped damage or destruction.
There are plans in place to get kids displaced by the Camp Fire back in the classroom soon, but where and how are to be determined.
Superintendent Tim Taylor says there as many as 5,700 school children in Paradise, Concow, and Magalia who have been affected by the fires.
He says the district is working to connect teachers with students who may have evacuated to other counties and states.
"So if a kid's in Texas, maybe they can say hi to that teacher online and keep them connected," Taylor says. "Because the number one thing we can do for their trauma is keep them connected to the teacher they had before."
But Taylor says at least 700 teachers and district staff are also in need of help.
"They are not right now in a state of mind to teach. They're dealing with their own issues," he said. "So, it's very intense and our mental health team is ready and we're reaching out statewide to get more people up here to help."
According to him, the district is already taking steps to find replacements for the classrooms that may have been destroyed.
"They'll be in temporary retail centers. We'll get those ready for school to get through the holidays," Taylor said.Our intermediate plan is to build a portable campus for long term as long as they need, a nice portable setting in a classroom for each of the schools that were destroyed or can't get back up to Paradise."
He says he put out a call for 100 mobile classrooms and has received offers for 850 from across the country, but it will be a while before students return to the schools that may be used again in the future.
"They've got to remove 70,000 trees. They've got nine months of debris removal. They've got all the wires (down) and potable water (issues),” he said, “Even if all the buildings are standing up there. It's gonna be a huge disaster cleanup."
The district has set a goal of Dec. 3 to re-open classes.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
