Emergency Declared: Porter Ranch Schools Closed

The Los Angeles Unified School District board unanimously declared an emergency today at two Porter Ranch schools affected by a natural-gas leak and authorized that the nearly 1,900 students be moved to other locations.

The board also authorized its attorneys to pursue litigation against Southern California Gas Co. to recover any costs incurred as a result of the leak.

The vote came despite objections from some parents who said only a small percentage of students at the schools have reported any problems from the gas and complained that the relocation of students will disrupt their schedules while forcing them to wake up earlier and miss out on after-school programs.

According to an LAUSD staff report, Porter Ranch Community School is located about two miles from the Aliso Canyon storage facility that has been leaking natural gas since late October. Castlebay Lane Charter school is about one mile from the site.

“These two schools have been significantly disrupted by the gas leak,” according to the report. “Absenteeism and visits to the health offices at each of these schools has significantly increased. Furthermore, since the leak was first reported, families are opting out of attending school and are instead choosing independent study for their children, while others have transferred to a different school. Additional requests for independent study programs and school transfers continue.”

Despite the concerns of some parents, school board members said they did not want to risk the health of students.

“I believe that we should never gamble without sufficient knowledge that absolutely convinces me 100 percent this (leak) won’t hurt kids, and I’m not convinced,” board member Richard Vladovic said. “... If it were my child, I would want to move.”

Michelle King, the district’s chief deputy superintendent, stressed that the move will be temporary, taking effect after the winter break and likely continuing until June.

According to the district, students from Castlebay will be moved to Sunny Brae Avenue Elementary school in Winnetka. Porter Ranch Community School students will be moved to Northridge Middle School. The students will be housed in portable classrooms and other available space at each campus.

Gas Co. executives have said a relief well they are having drilled will allow them to cap the leak, but that process is expected to take weeks. School district officials said the process could take three to four more months, necessitating action at the two schools.

Porter Ranch Community Schools has about 1,100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, while Castlebay has 770 students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

School board member Scott Schmerelson and Northwest Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said earlier that the district has already installed air filters in classrooms at the schools, assigned additional nurses to the campuses and began daily air-quality monitoring.

In a joint statement, they said the problem “has become a distraction to the teaching and learning taking place at our schools.”

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency on Tuesday in response to the gas leak, in hopes of expediting state and local assistance to help with air monitoring and efforts to cap the leaking well.

No evacuation orders have been issued for the area, but nearly 1,700 Porter Ranch-area families have been relocated and another 1,000 have applied to be moved, at the cost of the Gas Co.

The Gas Co. opened a Community Resource Center in the Porter Ranch Town Center Wednesday to offer a variety of assistance to residents, including relocation help. I also has created a website, www.AlisoUpdates.com, to provide updates on the relief well progress, air quality monitoring, community resources and other relevant information.

--City News Service; Image by Roy Randall via Flickr