Moments after the morning bell rang Thursday, the kindergartners at Pasadena’s Willard Elementary School — back in class for the first time since the Eaton fire roared through the area — were fully engaged in what 5-year-olds do best: play.
Four children were putting on a dinner party, complete with plastic food and dolls. “Ice cream and tomato — yucky!” one girl told a classmate. “If you eat it, you’re gonna get doo-doo.”
Pasadena Unified school officials relished this small, lighthearted moment, a respite from more than two weeks of tragedy and a massive cleanup effort to prepare campuses for reopening.
In all, 10 district schools and programs welcomed back more than 3,400 students on Thursday as part of an initial phase of openings. They included Hamilton Elementary School, Blair Middle School and Rose City High School, among others.
“It feels so good to see a beautiful school building” open, said Pasadena Unified Board of Education President Jennifer Hall Lee. “Rebuilding and rebirth is essential. For all people at PUSD and beyond.”
The district, which closed its 24 campuses on Jan. 8 — the day after the fire began — can bring back children only after testing confirms they are safe under state Office of Emergency Services standards. A meticulous cleanup — one deploying 1,500 workers — has been ongoing for the last two weeks, and so far has removed more than 100 tons of debris.
“If someone would have told me that I was going to rebuild a school district in 14 days, I would have told them it was impossible,” said Supt. Elizabeth Blanco. “But … we have the right team of people … that love this district.”
Five district-owned school properties were severely damaged or destroyed in the conflagration, including historic Eliot Arts Magnet. Three charter schools housed in school district sites were among those lost.
A second phase of school reopenings would bring an additional 5,400 students back to classrooms; a third phase would add 5,000 more. The district aims to return all students to in-person learning by the end of January.
As children streamed into Willard ahead of the 7:50 a.m. start of classes, parents milled around the entrance, which is framed by two rows of palm trees. One dad, Arthur Sierra, said he was nervous about sending his 5-year-old daughter, Alina, to kindergarten, but was reassured to know that the district had undertaken an extensive cleaning program. Alina, he said, has asthma.
“We were worried, just because of what’s going on — the media explaining the negative possibilities that might happen in terms of what we are breathing in,” Sierra said. “[District personnel] are doing all their due diligence, but there still is that possibility.”
Nonetheless, Sierra said his daughter was excited to come back to school — and he was a bit relieved, too. “It’s kind of hard for parents to provide that same level of stimulation that they are getting at school for eight hours,” he said.
As Sierra spoke, a crew of workers in neon yellow vests cleared brush nearby.
“We are just hoping for the best,” he said. “You know, day by day.”
