Lessons in disaster

Suzie Harrison

Laguna Beach Unified School District was unified in its emergency

response efforts to Wednesday’s massive Bluebird Canyon landslide.

Schools serving students in the landslide-affected area made it

their business to keep the day as normal as possible, while offering

support and emergency assistance to families in need.

Asst. Supt. Steven Keller said a key piece in handling the

disaster included constant communication.

“We had ongoing communication throughout the day without panic,”

Keller said. “Logically, the physical and emotional needs of the

students and families came first -- safety and security.”

Keller said that, while the schools addressed the tragedy, at the

same time they were focused on providing a regular school day.

Laguna Beach High School immediately responded by donating its

gymnasium to serve as the Red Cross emergency response headquarters.

Keller said he and Laguna Beach High School principal Nancy Blade

both agreed the school’s north gymnasium would best suit the public’s

needs.

“We tried to decide which location would offer easy access, and

space was also a consideration,” Keller said. “We felt comfortable it

would provide a secure location even if it got a little busy.”

Just up the road on Park Avenue, Thurston Middle School

immediately let families know it was business as usual, Asst.

Principal Jenny Salberg said.

“We let them know it’s absolutely OK; we sent out a notification

call to all the parents,” Principal Joanne Culverhouse said. “A lot

of parents volunteered to help if needed.

“We’re keeping students up to date periodically to make sure

rumors don’t get started and to keep everybody informed.”

Culverhouse said she and her staff would wait and assess the

situation, making sure affected students and families all have places

to go.

“We live in a very caring, giving community and have been flooded

with calls, asking what they could do,” Culverhouse said. “We used

our system to keep apprised of which families are in the greatest

need of assistance. We knew the community would come together to help

those who lost their homes.”

Culverhouse said at the middle school level it’s vital to keep the

students informed about the facts and to ensure that students, as

well as their families, be provided for.

“They need to know they’re safe,” Culverhouse said.

Top of the World Elementary School -- also located in a hillside

area -- used a similar system to notify all parents of the situation.

“With our system, we have the capability to notify every family on

any of six phone numbers per family within 15 minutes,” principal Ron

La Motte said. “It’s an Internet-based communication tool we used

first thing this morning.”

La Motte said he let parents know Top of the World was open for

business as usual and everything was fine.

“We assessed who was not here and offered support in any way to

their families,” La Motte said. “Then we contacted the bus company to

make sure a bus would be available, but no evacuations were

necessary.”

Students living in the affected area were being kept at school

until parents could pick them up.

“The most important thing is to let students know that we have

counselors, if they’re worried or concerned or to address their

fears,” La Motte said. “Some students were able to take advantage of

that help.”

La Motte said the district and community have learned a lot of

valuable lessons from the 1993 fires and other natural disasters.

“The district has a solid plan we implement,” La Motte said. “We

will be following up with the families affected, offering support or

whatever is necessary to help if displaced.”

Keller said Thurston and Top of the World were the most

significantly affected by the tragedy.

“The younger students had more obvious needs,” Keller said.

He pointed out that high school students had ready access to

communication by cell phone.

El Morro Elementary School principal Chris Duddy said in terms of

emergency response, his school was luckier than others. Duddy said

the area where the landslides took place is not in El Morro’s

attendance boundary.

“The major affects for El Morro are busing issues to and from

school,” Duddy said. “Our role is to make sure kids are handled

appropriately and communicate with parents to make sure they get home

safely.”

Duddy said they are also there to support other schools in the

district and keep open communication with the parents.

Laguna’s Boys & Girls Club closed the TLC Branch of the club

located in Bluebird Park until further notice. However, the club’s

main branch at 1085 Laguna Canyon Road has opened its doors to all

children and families affected by the disaster, executive director

Kim Maxwell said.

All TLC branch members were rerouted through the school district

buses to the Laguna Canyon Road location.