February 2008, Riverside County Office of Education, Kenneth M. Young, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools

Schools respond to fires and winds

photo of firefighter on the scene of a wildfireAs wildfires raged across Southern California in October 2007, Riverside County education leaders were presented with unique challenges as they closed schools, set up evacuation centers and dealt with violent winds.

Damages to K-12 schools in Riverside County totaled more than $1 million, including wind damages to Beaumont and San Jacinto school districts.

At the height of the wind storms and wildfires, more than 100,000 Riverside County students in eight school districts were not able to attend classes either because of wind damage or poor air quality from fires.

In addition, high schools in Temecula and Murrieta were opened as evacuation centers for fire victims from San Diego County. Mt. San Jacinto Community College suffered more than $2.8 million in wind related damages as well.

During this challenging time, superintendents from 23 districts stayed in constant contact with each other and the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE). In addition, Riverside County schools stayed in touch with emergency authorities through Michael D’Amico, RCOE’s Coordinator of Safety and Emergency Preparedness, assigned to the Riverside County Emergency Command Center. D’Amico called on RCOE employees trained in emergency response to help at the Command Center and evacuation centers.


The mission of RCOE is to ensure the success of all students through extraordinary service, support and partnerships
The 2008 Report to the Community was written and prepared by the Riverside County Office of Education. It is also available as a pdf (17 MB). Copyright ©2008 Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. 3939 Thirteenth Street, Riverside, CA 92501