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Students are back in classrooms Friday, Feb. 24 following several school closures across the Ravenswood City School District schools closed due to weather-related power outages. The school board is questioning why Pacific Gas & Electric Company did not do more to restore power in the community.
Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy closed Wednesday and Costaño Elementary School, both in East Palo Alto, closed Wednesday and Thursday because of power outages, said Chief Business Officer Will Eger. Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School and Belle Haven Elementary School remained open. All schools were closed Monday and Tuesday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
Trustee Mele Latu said 4,000 households were affected by outages, which means about “10,000 to 15,000 people were subjected to that type of disrespect” by PG&E.
“We won’t be ignored,” said board President Jenny Varghese Bloom. The school board met at Belle Helle Elementary School in Menlo Park because power was out at the district office. Power is back on at the district office on Friday, but the internet is still down.
“I’m disappointed in PG&E for not even mentioning East Palo Alto,” she said. “… We are serving the needs of the most vulnerable, and for them to be able to eat at our schools and to be able to have heat and power at our schools is so important and I’m disappointed our schools were not prioritized.”
Heavy winds and stormy weather have caused significant outages across the Peninsula, with tens of thousands of customers losing power over the course of the week. PG&E shut down Interstate Highway 101 between Marsh and Willow roads on Thursday to restore power to the community.
We are facing a challenging situation restoring power to approximately 4,000 customers in #BelleHaven, #MenloPark. Fallen trees have caused damage to our powerlines, and it will not be possible to restore power without temporarily stopping traffic on nearby Highway 101 (1/2) pic.twitter.com/aKxyirA3uY
— Pacific Gas & Electric (@PGE4Me) February 23, 2023
Varghese Bloom said it is unacceptable that crews weren’t sent to East Palo Alto until late Wednesday night, leaving some without power for 48 hours.
“We will be looking for answers and looking for transparency because the way we were treated was disrespectful and it’s not OK,” she said.
Latu called the treatment “crimes against our kids.”
It has been over 30 hours, and people are still without power in @City_EPA. We have seniors who are cold. We have children who have been deprived of their education because two of our public schools, are out of power. Let me be painfully clear: this is on your corporation. 3/5
— Antonio López (@barrioscribe) February 23, 2023
Varghese Bloom acknowledged Latu for reaching out to elected officials at the city, county and state levels and delivering blankets, gift cards and power packs to residents.
Superintendent Gina Sudaria said the community “has not been served and addressed in the immediacy” it deserves.
The Almanac has reached out to PG&E for a response to district officials’ comments on the utility company’s treatment of East Palo Alto.
Eger said the district is exploring leveraging state and federal funds to add power walls to each of our schools in case of emergencies. Eger said solar panels are now installed at each of its schools and should help in case of power grid disruptions but there are no plans to install generators at schools.
Watch a video of the meeting here:
Power was out for 48 hours in Woodside and Portola Valley too. Nobody is getting special treatment.
Yes, PG&E went out of their way to disrespect Belle Haven by shutting off their power, depriving everyone of heat and energy, for 30 hours.
Good thing PG&E camouflaged their bigotry by keeping power off in my neighborhood for 60 hours.