Returning to School Routine is Crucial : Parents Can Help Their Children Recover From Quake by Getting Them Back on Track

Even those San Fernando Valley parents who are not normally that involved in the life of their children’s schools have had ample reason to be interested of late. They have had to inquire about the status of school buildings and campuses after the Northridge Quake, and have waited to hear about when those schools will resume operations.

Others are not so certain that the reopened structures are safe, and have held their children out of school. The latter is a mistake if the buildings have been inspected and declared sound.

“It’s important for a community that’s had a major disaster to get back in to the daily rhythm of life as soon as possible,” U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley said after a recent visit to Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, “Schoolchildren in the schools is one of the most important parts of that rhythm.” Translation: let the little loved ones back into that routine. It might be an important psychological and emotional boost.

Parents have a simple option for a little reinvestment in normalcy as well. They can ask for a copy of the Accountability Report Card on their children’s school.

Mandated by a 1988 state law and available since 1990, the report cards assess a school’s academic performance, class sizes, teacher assignments, instruction, curriculum, teacher evaluations, attendance, dropout rates, and much more.

The problem? Most parents don’t ask for them, or simply don’t know what they are and that they are available. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Unified School District simply can’t afford to send out regular copies of the report cards, especially when so much of its resources have been devoted to getting schools in shape for classes again after the quake. And there is a related footnote to that.

LAUSD officials took on the task of reopening schools after the quake. Had the effort to break up the LAUSD succeeded, and had this been a Valley-only school system, it would have borne the brunt of the local repair costs. The fact that the LAUSD still exists means that the quake damage is a citywide problem, not just a Valley problem.