Why Are LAUSD Schools Open During a Flash Flood Warning?

By: Maribelle Boktor '27

LAUSD keeping schools open during the storm that happened a few weeks ago was extremely irresponsible. I understand that learning must go on, but leaving schools open while there was a life-threatening storm was not a smart approach. There were several power outages on the night of the fourth all over LA. Cities were starting to flood that night and houses were destroyed. Still, LAUSD decided that we would still have school the next morning. It should’ve been a sign to keep schools closed on the fifth when we got two inches of rain on the fourth but we still had to go to school. 

LAUSD posted a message on Instagram and the comment section was not happy about this. Some users were even quoting the Amber Alert they got earlier that night, saying,  “Emergency Alert: National Weather Service: A FLASH FLOOD WARNING is in effect for this area until 9:00 AM PST. This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.” Another Instagram user commented, “Good thing my mom’s car has a setting to turn into a boat.” Those were two of four thousand comments. Most of the comments, if not all of them, express how upset they are at this decision. I agree with them on this. Sending kids to school in these conditions is outlandish. 

9th grader Zaruhi Poghosyan said, “I did not go to school on Monday. Why? It’s simple, we had many flash flood warnings and the amount of amber alerts I received was absurd.” She continued, “We should be at home and doing our classes over Zoom if necessary. Why are schools even open during storms?” 

Another student, Erica Grunkenmeyer, said, “I didn’t go to school on Monday because my parents let me stay home. I don’t understand why LAUSD didn’t close the schools during the storm even though multiple flash flood warnings were issued.” 

Sophomore Jilian Weinstein said, “I just think they kinda kept it (the schools) open for their own sake.” When asked why she attended she said, “I was forced to come.” 

Similarly,  Lindy Sue in tenth grade said, “I came to school on Monday because my mom forced me to. I low-key think that it's horrible and that they just wanna be different so bad that they kept school open.” 

There you have it. The kids that did show up to school were forced to because a little rain never hurt anybody, right? Wrong. The campus was flooded. The kids that were there didn’t go willingly. If they did, I'm sure they weren't expecting a flooded campus.