Eureka City Schools continues to monitor the situation and will make the needed adjustments for the safety of all students. As of right now, all sites are open for a normal school day.
There are several factors Eureka City Schools takes into account when deciding on whether or not to have our schools open and safety is a top priority. Rest assured, in addition to cell phone communication, each of our sites does have an operational landline for emergencies. We also have official designees on fire watch. We plan on operating our school sites on Thursday and Friday, as long as we have running water.
While we understand some parents are concerned, we have other parents who have expressed appreciation for their children being in school today. One example of this is the call we received from the Chief Executive at St. Joseph Hospital, Roberta Luskin-Hawk, M.D., who personally thanked Eureka City Schools’ staff for keeping our schools open. During the call, Dr. Luskin-Hawk noted keeping the schools open made it possible for her emergency response staff to report to work.
Finally, the fiscal impact of keeping schools open has no impact on our decision. There is a mechanism with the California Department of Education to file for an attendance waiver in situations like this. Simply put, there would be little to no fiscal impact to the District if we closed.
If you are not comfortable leaving your child at school, it is your choice to keep them at home or pick them up. However, our schools are open, and we see it as our responsibility to stay open to serve the thousands of students who are in school today.