Schools will not lose funding as a result of wildfires

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell  announced assistance is available for students, schools, and the communities affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles and Placer counties.

 "Thankfully, we have not heard of any deaths or injuries of students or school staff, nor damage to any school structures," said O'Connell. "However, I want to assure school districts whose operations have been affected that they will not lose funding if their facilities are closed by wildfires or used as emergency shelters."

           In natural disasters, school districts will not lose Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding if their facilities are used as community shelters or forced to close because of wildfires. The California Education Code allows the State Superintendent to authorize ADA credit for the days that schools are closed. Districts may also receive ADA credit for all purposes and instructional time credit for the days and minutes lost due to an emergency closure. ADA credit and approval of school closures may be obtained by submitting three copies of Form J-13A. To download the form, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/aa/documents/formj13a.doc.

Also, if school facilities are used as evacuation centers, they may be designated as community feeding sites, and serve meals at no charge to students rendered homeless. Since 1990, the California Education Codeallowed school districts that participated in the National School Lunch Program the ability to obtain reimbursement for losses sustained during a state or federally proclaimed disaster. This recognizes that schools have fixed costs even when forced to close in the event of a disaster. For more information on school meal disaster relief policies, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/disaster.asp.

 "I also want to express my deepest condolences to the families of Captain Tedmund Hall and Specialist Arnaldo Quinones who valiantly fought the wildfires and died in the line of duty," added O'Connell. "Our thanks go out to all the firefighters who are fighting to keep us safe from wildfires that are a constant threat to our communities and school systems during these hot, dry summers."

A total of eight schools and/or school districts in Los Angeles County have been closed, used as emergency shelters, or have curtailed outdoor student activities as a result of the so-called Station Fire. Because of the summer recess, some of the schools were not in session yet or delayed opening until further notice. For the latest details on each school, please visit the California Department of Education's (CDE) new Web page, "California Wildfires 2009" at http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/ht/yr09wildfires08.asp. This Web page will be updated frequently.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did proclaim states of emergency in Placer and Los Angeles counties, as well as other counties affected by wildfires. This may pave the way for the state to request that President Obama declare the same counties federal disaster areas, thereby authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide federal funding assistance.