OC superintendents to talk about course of action

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Orange County superintendents are scheduled to meet via conference call Thursday morning to discuss the best manner with which to deal with a weekend football schedule that is threatened by Southern California wildfires.

Bill Habermehl, Orange County Superintendent of Schools, picured left, did the same thing after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks so that everyone could be on the same page, information-wise. Some districts had intended to play that weekend, while others did not. He said they agreed county-wide to cancel activities.

‘You make better decisions collectively than you do in isolation,’ Habermehl said. ‘I hope we have an onshore breeze and clear skies, but if we don’t, the superintendents need to know where everybody else is.’

Dennis Smith, superintendent for the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, said there is a marked difference between these fires and circumstances surrounding Sept. 11.

‘This isn’t necessarily the same magnitude,’ he said. ‘The difference then was that many games were nonconference games and these are league games’ which make the situation more complicated.

There are many options that could be agreed upon, from every district making an autonomous decision right up to game time, to collectively canceling all weekend activities.

- Martin Henderson

-- Image from www.ocde.k12.ca.us