District Eschewed Online Learning Due to Uncertainty Over Devices

The District did not revert to online learning after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes and several schools in Altadena because District officials do not know how many devices were destroyed in the fire, according to Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco.

“We don’t know how many teachers and students lost devices,” Blanco said in a virtual meeting.

The District announced a phased reopening of local schools beginning with the 10 schools furthest away from ground zero of the fire.

Blanco said that in order to revert to distance learning, the employees working to reopen schools would have to be used to get online learning up and running.

“That would have to divert their attention to gear up for online learning and it might create complete chaos because of the loss of devices,” she said.

The District has ordered 5,000 Chromebooks to make up for devices lost in the blaze. The fire has burned 14,000 acres and left thousands of students and teachers displaced.

Many families have left the area to stay with relatives in San Bernardino County.

State law mandates that students impacted by a natural disaster can enter nearby schools if they are displaced into another community.

The District last adopted a distance learning model during the COVID-19 pandemic. All 14,000 of the District’s students attended virtual classrooms during that time.

However, some parents later complained about the lack of socialization and the impact it was having on their children. Those complaints and money from the state prevented the District from using a hybrid model that would have allowed distance learning to continue.