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fights back over social media tactic. A3 more than Garoppolo this season. C1
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WINNER OF THE 2018 PULITZER PRIZE
“I don’t think anyone that works here can be unaffected by the fires.
You have these young, young children whose whole life has just changed.”
Robert Mueller
Mueller’s
method
strictly schools across county
by books
RUSSIA PROBE » Insight
on special counsel’s next
move visible in his past
By MATT APUZZO
NEW YORK TIMES
E
at the mythology that has built dents, currently all at the main campus, which
up since Mueller was appointed very Monday after lunch, students and even with the enrollment decline holds more
15 months ago. Look instead to staff at Hidden Valley Satellite School students than it did before the fires thanks to
his four decades of government gathered for a “nifty kid” assembly, where the addition of three new portable classrooms.
service. they sang songs and talked about the life skill of Last school year, 700 students transferred out
As he advanced from line the month, such as perseverance or kindness. It of Santa Rosa City Schools, the largest school
prosecutor to top Justice De- was a fun tradition that ended when the campus district in Sonoma County with 16,020 students
partment official to head of the was destroyed in the October wildfires, and its currently enrolled. The net loss was 399, since
FBI, his time was marked by ag- 80 students were sent to the main campus on 301 new students did enroll last school year.
gressive prosecutions but also Bonita Vista Drive. Still, 700 gone in one year was significant.
a deference at key moments to “I do love the main campus, but that small lit- “There’s a reason that they left the district
precedent, tradition and higher tle school was really special,” said Marcia Seim and … we can surmise it’s potentially due to the
office. “He’s the last guy who’s Bossier, a reading interventionist teacher who impact of the fires,” said SRCS Superintendent
going to do anything that’s even spent nearly five years at the satellite school. Diann Kitamura. SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
slightly a departure from the Hidden Valley collectively saw the largest Countywide, public schools had a net loss of This month’s Rebuild North Bay takes
bedrock principles,” said Glenn enrollment drop after the wildfires, within the a look at the hurdles facing schools,
Santa Rosa district. A total of 602 students were TURN TO SCHOOLS » PAGE A12 educators and students after the fires
TURN TO MUELLER » PAGE A2
Business E1 Crossword T7 Movies D6 Sonoma Life D1 COUNTY’S CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS: Report SANTA ROSA ©2018
Classified E5 Forum B9 Nevius C1 Smith A3 finds seniors are fastest-growing segment of High 77, Low 52 The Press
Democrat
Community B Lotto A2 Obituaries B4 LeBaron T1 dwindling population amid housing crunch / A3 THE WEATHER, C8
A12 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
First-grade teacher Meta George uses a whiteboard during class Wednesday at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa.
SCHOOLS
CONTINUED FROM A1
600 students last school year.
An additional net loss of 1,000
students is expected by the end
of this school year as more fam-
ilies leave the area, said Steven
Herrington, superintendent of
the Sonoma County Office of
Education.
“Many people relocated, many
tried to keep kids in school
during the current fiscal year for
student stability, but as housing
becomes more expensive we’re
losing families,” Herrington said.
“If you want your schools to
grow, you need young families.”
The effects of the fires on
Hidden Valley and the county’s
other schools extend beyond
reduced headcount.
“I don’t think anyone that
works here can be unaffected
by the fires,” said Meta George,
who has taught first grade at the
main campus for three years.
“You have these young, young
children whose whole life has
just changed.”
George said her incoming
class is a bit behind in math and
reading. Last year, she noticed
students needed more time to
progress in their studies. Kids
would lose concentration, or
Kindergartner Lincoln Corwin, 5, relaxes on the carpet during free time Wednesday in Kim McKay’s class at Hidden Valley Elementary School.
need to physically withdraw to a
quiet space. this year and lost fewer than 10 However, the district has no
“The fires absolutely had an students last year because of immediate plans to rebuild Hid-
impact on students’ learning the fires. The district plans to den Valley Satellite.
and progress,” George said. “Of purchase the former Ursuline “When I drive by where the
course they’re thinking about school site this October, a year Hidden Valley satellite was, it’s
other things when they’re living after the fires. a stark reality of what has hap-
in the barn that’s still standing As families have moved out pened because there’s nothing
or above their family’s store.” of Santa Rosa, displaced by the there,” Superintendent Kitamu-
Gianna Rafael, who lives in fires or in search of housing, dis- ra said.
Fountaingrove and attends sixth tricts like Windsor Unified have The trauma of escaping the
grade at Hidden Valley Elemen- seen their enrollment increase. fires, being displaced, and losing
tary, recalled the ash, debris and Windsor has 134 students entire neighborhoods will linger
confusion after the fires. more this year than its projected for years to come for many res-
“It was weird and I didn’t know enrollment of 4,970. Superin- idents. To provide students and
how to feel,” said Rafael, 11. tendent Brandon Krueger said their families support, the Santa
About 70,000 students are en- some parents of newly enrolled Rosa school district in June
rolled in public schools in Sono- students indicated they recently opened the Integrated Wellness
ma County. Over the past five moved to Windsor, and a small Center, a free clinic that provides
years, about 300 to 500 students number of those families men- counseling, nurse services and
have left the county annually A first-grader works on a self-portrait during class Wednesday at Hidden tioned it was due to the fires. tutoring and academic support.
across its 40 public school dis- Valley Elementary School, which lost its satellite campus during the fires. The financial hit to schools The clinic currently is open
tricts. The high cost of living and extends beyond enrollment after school Mondays and
lack of affordable housing cause students and 12 teachers in the Assemblyman Jim Wood, issues. Public school districts Wednesdays.
families with young children to district lost their homes. D-Santa Rosa, introduced legis- countywide incurred more than “The effect of the fires can
leave and deter others from com- Schaefer has about 353 stu- lation to help stabilize funding $10 million in losses covered by be very deep and broad,” said
ing here, Herrington said. dents enrolled this school year, for school districts affected by insurance, including structur- Steve Mizera, assistant super-
While falling enrollment isn’t about 100 fewer students than the fires, allowing the use of al damage and cleaning costs, intendent of student and family
uncommon, October’s devastat- last year, according to Schaefer prefire average daily attendance according to the Sonoma County services.
ing wildfires compounded the Principal Kathy Harris. Because figures for the next three years. Office of Education. Several area elementary
problem, wiping out 5,300 homes of the enrollment decline, the It passed in June as part of the Schaefer Charter School schools also have integrated
in the Sonoma County, includ- district reduced staff in March, state budget, but Calloway said and John B. Riebli Elementary an emotional curriculum call
ing those of about 1,450 public although Harris didn’t have funds haven’t reached the Mark and were closed for months Toolbox, developed by Dove-
school students and about 250 exact figures for how many West district yet. because of toxic ash and debris tail Learning in Sebastopol.
public school employees. teachers were let go. “There’s a little more that’s in in surrounding neighborhoods. There are 12 “tools” in a box
The increased decline in K-12 “We’re looking forward to the weeds ... There’s a process to The Tubbs fire gutted the Anova that students can turn to help
enrollment has a ripple effect having families return” as the it,” he said. school for children with autism develop resilience and empa-
on funding and resources. Santa neighborhoods are rebuilt, Not every district impacted by at the Luther Burbank Center thy. For example, there’s a tape
Rosa schools projected enroll- Harris said. the fires has seen an enrollment for the Arts, along with its audi- measure that remind students to
ment for this school year at In the Mark West Union decline, though. torium. breathe and calm down. Or the
16,141, but a week into the school School District, 221 students lost At Roseland Collegiate Prep Cardinal Newman High headphones tool that indicates a
year it was 121 students shy of homes. About 40 didn’t return to — grades seven through 12 — School lost its library, baseball quiet, safe place.
that. California public schools the district, Superintendent Ron enrollment has increased from field, administrative office and The curriculum is used at
budget based on enrollment but Calloway said. At the time of the 403 last year to 494 this year, 20 classrooms in the Tubbs fire. Santa Rosa schools and in neigh-
receive funds based on average fires, enrollment was at about according to Roseland District Next door, Saint Rose Catholic boring districts.
daily attendance. 1,470, and by June the district Superintendent Amy Jones-Kerr. School lost its preschool and Harris said the curriculum
“With enrollment down, that’s had 1,421 students. This month, Although it’s partially due to playground, then flooded two was adopted at Schaefer School
going to be interesting,” Kitamu- enrollment boosted to about a new senior class, it’s still an weeks later when water pres- about six years ago and ex-
ra said. 1,450 students. incredible feat for the school, sure was restored before staff humed after the wildfires.
It’s not just Santa Rosa City The 40 students who left last which was located on the site of could shut off the water system “What we noticed last year is
Schools that’s feeling the impact school year were spread out the former Ursuline High School or replace sprinkler heads. that the impact kind of comes in
of the fires that leveled entire among different grade levels, northeast of Santa Rosa and In addition to Hidden Valley waves, and you don’t know when
blocks, including in Coffey Park presenting a funding challenge suffered major damage in the Satellite, the Santa Rosa school that’s going to come crashing on
and Fountaingrove. for the district. firestorm. The school moved to district lost in the firestorm the you,” Harris said.
Although Schaefer Charter “If you lose students mid-year, Roseland University Prep’s old Santa Rosa High School farm on
School in the Piner-Olivet Union you’re unable to reduce staff campus on Sebastopol Road af- Alba Lane, just off Old Redwood You can reach Staff Writer
School District was untouched and you’re unable to realize any ter that school got a new campus Highway near Cardinal New- Susan Minichiello at 707-521-
by flames, the Tubbs fire laid savings,” said Regina Cuculich, a month after the Tubbs fire. man. It plans to rebuild the farm, 5216 or susan.minichiello@
waste to the surrounding Coffey Mark West associate superinten- The Roseland district has which received a $500,000 dona- pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter
Park neighborhood. About 133 dent of business. about 2,900 students enrolled tion from Raley’s grocery store. @susanmini.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 • SECTION H
Students find their lockers as demolition work continues Tuesday at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa. Schools are facing complex challenges after the fires.
FOCUS ON SCHOOLS
A
s students returned to school this month, for
some, it was their first time back on campus
for class since the worst wildfire in Califor-
nia’s history swept through 10 months ago.
The Tubbs fire destroyed Hidden Valley
Satellite, Anova and Redwood Adeventist Academy
and damaged Cardinal Newman High School, St. Rose
Catholic School and Roseland Collegiate Prep. It also
burned down the Santa Rosa High School farm.
Construction has started on some of the sites, leav-
ing many students to grapple with the emotional chal-
lenges that come with rebuilding a home and a school.
Countywide, about 1,500 students lost homes in the
wildfires.
Schools aren’t just wrestling with the rebuilding
process. They’re also dealing with declining enrollment
as families burned out of their homes decide not to
rebuild and leave the area. Inside, the stories from this
month offer a snapshot of the hurdles schools, teachers
and adminstrators, and students have faced as well as
their plans and hopes for the future.
INSIDE
HOMES TAKING SHAPE COUNTY EDUCATORS HELP HIDDEN VALLEY STUDENTS DISCOVERING HEALING
IN LARKFIELD-WIKIUP PUPILS COPE AFTER FIRES RETURN TO NEW NORMAL POWER OF SPORTS
Neighborhoods reforming as Schoolteachers, administrators Santa Rosa elementary school has Youth athletes, coaches find
residents make push to transform who lost homes find dual benefits found creative ways to adapt after community encouragement while
some open properties into parks. in helping students rebound. losing satellite campus to fire. getting back to what they love.
Page H7 Page H10 Page H13 Page H21
PARTICIPATING SPONSORS
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H3
Survivors facing
project logjams
Mellissa and David Edney, joined by their 2-year-old daughter Charlotte, look through the fence surrounding the swimming pool on their property, which was leveled in October during the
Tubbs fire, in Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park neighborhood on Aug. 10. The couple, like many in their neighborhood, has faced delays with their effort to rebuild their lost homes.
C
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT the effort.
AshBritt Environmental will donate
offey Park is humming $450,000 in cash for the rebuilding of 2,900
with construction this linear feet of walls along each side of Hop-
per. Local contractors will provide up to
summer, even as more $200,000 more in in-kind contributions to de-
neighbors there struggle to join molish the old wood-and-concrete structures
the recovery. and dispose of the debris.
After the walls were scorched in the
Fire survivors working to re- October wildfire, the property owners who
build said they’ve faced a variety back up to the structures were surprised
of delays as an increasing num- to learn that they, and not the city, own the
structures.
ber of them seek to hire builders An initial estimate put the cost of new
and take the many steps needed walls at $300,000, not including demolition.
Many of the roughly 40 property owners
to break ground. As an example said they couldn’t afford to pay such an ex-
of the busyness, the number of pense and they lacked the ability as individ-
permit applications to rebuild ual landowners to find a solution.
The rebuilding of the walls will be under-
burned homes around Santa Rosa taken by the Coffey Strong neighborhood
tripled between April and July. group in partnership with the nonprofit
“They’re hitting rush hour,” Rebuild North Bay and AshBritt. The
Florida company conducted debris removal
Coffey Park landowner Christina for upward of 2,000 North Bay properties
Pozzi Westphal said of her neigh- burned in the October fires.
bors. “AshBritt is proud to partner with Re-
David Edney and his daughter, Charlotte, walk build Northbay and Coffey Strong to make
City planning officials have responded Aug. 10 through the cleared lot where their home this happen,” Brittany Perkins, the compa-
by greatly increasing the number of staff once stood before the Tubbs fire in October. ny’s CEO, said in a statement.
members assigned to process building per- Coffey Strong has now gained needed
mits and inspections. The monthly staff time “What they’ve done for us in two weeks is permission to conduct the work from more
spent on rebuilding doubled between March more than what our previous building group than half the affected property owners,
and July to 5,147 hours. had done in seven months,” Mellissa Edney Chairman Jeff Okrepkie said last week. The
The city also recently brought in a dozen said. demolition of the wall could begin as early
planners from around California to spend a At City Hall, planning officials acknowl- as September.
long weekend reviewing about 100 plans for edged permit processing times temporarily
rebuilding homes and businesses. lengthened in May when a wave of rebuild
By last week, Coffey Park had 396 homes applications came in. But after a significant Underground progress
under construction, compared to 325 a increase in staffing, the city is striving to PG&E has completed roughly 15 miles of
month earlier, according to city records. meet the turnaround times listed on its trenching in Coffey Park, or about 80 per-
Property owners there have applied for rebuild website, Planning Director David cent of what must be dug in order to install
a total of 707 building permits. That rep- Guhin said. new underground utilities in the neighbor-
resents more than half of the 1,300 sin- Also, the city plans to soon unveil an online hood.
gle-family homes that burned in the neigh- tracking system that can easily provide The utility has logged 55,000 hours for
borhood. property owners details on exactly how long crews and outside vendors building new
Coffey Park remains the most concen- rebuild plans were reviewed by the city and natural gas and electric lines, spokeswoman
trated area for rebuilding this summer in how long they were in the hands of architects Deanna Contreras said.
the county’s fire recovery areas. But for or others for needed revisions. Observers The new underground system, which also
many neighbors, the effort to rebuild often noted that with such a system, the city is less will include telephone and cable TV service,
involves a fair amount of frustration. likely to get blamed for delays if a builder or remain on track for completion in Coffey
Some said it took longer than expected to architect takes weeks to revise a plan. Park by the end of the year.
get a building permit. Others said the build- Here is a recap of other Coffey Park news Already one of the new underground ser-
er they first selected made little progress for August: vice lines has been damaged in the recovery
and seldom communicated them. efforts. Contreras reminded both builders
Some Coffey Park residents, like David and home landscapers to call 811 two business
and Mellissa Edney, have since let go their Money for a wall project days before digging so a utility technician
first contractor. The couple this summer The cracked and burned walls that line can mark the location of underground lines.
switched to Urban Equity Builders of Santa Hopper Avenue are slated to get replaced
Rosa. after a Florida debris removal company TURN TO COFFEY PARK » PAGE H8
need to do
level to below regulatory
limits of 1 part per billion.
“The data continues to
any more look good,” said Jennifer
Burke, the city’s deputy
replacement director of water and engi-
neering resources.
A push to make
room for parks
New home construction marks the landscape of Larkfield, foreground, and Coffey Park, background, highlighting the trail of destruction left in the wake of October’s Tubbs fire. Home
construction in the communities continues to show steady progress, with many homes rising in the Mark West Estates and Larkfield Estates subdivisions.
L
By J.D. MORRIS
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
“We lived there for 50 years, and there’s never been a park.
I just thought it would be an asset to the neighborhood.”
JACK SYMONS, longtime Larkfield-Wikiup resident who’d like to see his homesite become a new park
H8 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
“I was struck with sadness by their sign, wondering what special memories
the trees had, and how they were the only things left of their life ...”
WIKIUP
CONTINUED FROM H7
WENDY ANDERSON, Benicia artist who made the Thills of Santa Rosa a gift from charred pine cones found on their property
more customers as well.
Another group rebuild in
Larkfield, led by Fairfield-
based Silvermark Construction
Services, ushered in completion
of the community’s first rebuilt
home two months ago.
While rebuilding is moving
along clearly in the lower-ly-
ing areas, progress appears to
be going more slowly in the
community’s higher-elevation
neighborhoods. Willie Lamber-
son, a former Sonoma County
planning commissioner who
lost his home in Wikiup during
the fires, has the only property
on his block where the skeleton
of a rebuilt home is already
coming into place.
Lamberson joked he en-
courages his neighbors “every
day to get started,” saying he
doesn’t want to “be the only one
out here.” But he got a quick
start on the rebuilding process,
he said, and he’s all too familiar
with the various complexities
that lie between losing a home
and building a new one.
“You have to hurry but be
patient in this rebuild,” Lam-
berson said. “You got to really
push it to get all your different
testing done, get your plans
back from your architect, but
then you have to be patient
because there’s a lot of people
ahead of you.”
We can help
you find
and keep
housing.
The North Bay Construction Corps is a 5-month
training program for high school seniors that introduces them
to careers in Construction and the Trades. For more
information, and to learn how to get involved,
The City of Rohnert Park and COTS can provide assistance with: go to: www.ctesonomacounty.org/construction-corps.
• Security deposits
• Case management
This program is a project of:
• Housing search and location
• Rent payments
NT
SO
Funding for this program has been provided by the City of Rohnert
Y
C A L I F O R NI
A
REPUBLIC
Park. COTS is a service provider contracting with the city to offer this A G R I C U LT U R E
INDUSTRY
R E C R E AT I O N
SONOMA VALLEY »
Insurance problems, lack of contractors and less raw material create
uphill climb for residents of Kenwood and Glen Ellen who lost homes in fires
Mike Witkowski, who pauses behind a flourishing pokeweed on his quarter-acre lot in Glen Ellen, lost his home during October’s Nuns fire. Despite suffering serious damage, an adjacent
Hard-hit enclaves
property, background, was one of the few nearby structures that survived the blaze.
slowly recovering
R
By JANIS MARA out, construction crews and trucks can’t Core Homes in Santa Rosa. Those individuals
SONOMA INDEX-TRIBUNE reach a house to rebuild it. are building the units to house homeowners
Fourteen applications have been filed for while their burned homes are rebuilt.
ebuilding is inching permits to rebuild bridges in Mark West “The others were a small percentage
forward in Kenwood Springs, six in Rincon Valley and one in of homeowners who lost their homes as a
Glen Ellen. result of the fire and wanted to quickly add
and Glen Ellen, the two So far, one bridge has been rebuilt in Glen an ADU while they figured out what to do,”
Sonoma Valley commu- Ellen, eight in Mark West Springs and one in Hernandez said.
nities hit hardest by the October Rincon Valley. Robert Garant, CEO of Sonoma Valley En-
There are many difficulties in getting a gineering in Sonoma, has two clients waiting
wildfires. bridge rebuilt, according to Jennifer Thomp- in line for accessory units to be built in Glen
In Kenwood, where 139 houses son, executive director of the Rebuild North Ellen. He started work on one such unit in
burned, 12 homes were under Bay Foundation, a Sonoma nonprofit that Glen Ellen the week of Aug. 13, but has not
advocates for long-term rebuilding and fire yet signed a contract or applied for a permit
construction in mid-August. recovery efforts in the region. for the other two.
Property owners had applied for Plans must comply with a plethora of “A young family, parents with two chil-
regulations involving such issues as bridge dren, were burned out of their rental apart-
permits to rebuild 36 homes and placements, setbacks and water quality. ment in Glen Ellen. The woman’s mother is
accessory dwelling units, up from Requirements of a host of agencies — in- building a unit in her backyard so the family
31 in July. cluding the state Water Resources Control can live in her house. She’ll move into the
Board, Fish and Wildlife, Permit Sonoma ADU,” Garant said, describing the unit he is
In Glen Ellen, where 237 homes and Transportation and Public Works — building in Glen Ellen.
burned, 15 residences were under must be satisfied.
construction. People seeking to Navigating the regulations and public
Green thumbs doing their part
agencies can be time consuming. Many
rebuild had applied for 51 per- bridges burned in the Valley were privately “While you are waiting, you want to do
mits, up from 40 the previous owned, so the burden falls on the individual something,” said Mike Witkowski, whose
month. who owns them, Thompson said. O’Donnell Lane home in Glen Ellen burned
“A number of people have small bridges to the ground.
No homes have yet been completed in with culverts underneath that are part of He and his wife, Jane, had wisteria vines
either community. their driveways, over a creek or drainage,” all along their split-rail fence. A tiny patch
In the Valley, as in other parts of Sonoma said Glen Ellen resident Shannon Lee. “You of wisteria has grown back, and they
County, rebuilding has been slowed by a num- can’t bring in heavy equipment to do testing lovingly nurture it. Part of their next-door
ber of factors, including insurance snafus and or building if you aren’t certain about your neighbor’s garden survived, so she installed
scarcity of contractors and raw materials. driveway integrity.” drip watering and put up a deer fence to
The topography of the valley, with its rugged protect it. Before their lot was cleared, the
hills, also has hampered the rebuild. neighbors across the street transplanted
It’s easier to build on flat land — and less Adding accessory dwelling units some flowers that survived, planting them in
expensive — because homes on level lots can Accessory dwelling units — so-called an island in the middle of O’Donnell Lane.
be built on concrete slabs or simple crawl “granny units” or guest houses that supple- During the seemingly interminable
spaces, while houses on steep hills may need ment a main residence — are one option for process including clearing burned-out lots,
foundation walls or other costly systems to valley residents rebuilding after the fire. For drawing up plans and seeking contractors,
support the house. many, they offer a temporary respite while the Witkowskis are making lemonade out
Most of the 407 valley homes that burned their home is rebuilt. of lemons — or, rather, wood chips out of
were in Kenwood and Glen Ellen. In both Two such units are under construction burned trees.
towns, construction is moving forward most in Bennett Valley, two in Glen Ellen, four in Mike Witkowski put up a shade structure
quickly in neighborhoods located on flat Kenwood, nine in Mark West Springs and on his quarter-acre lot, with a glass-top table
land, according to Supervisor Susan Gorin, one in Rincon Valley, for a total of 18. Also, that survived the fire, four lawn chairs and
who represents the valley. 36 applications have been made for the units, wood chips piled on the ground to fend off
three of which are for Bennett Valley, seven weeds.
in Glen Ellen, seven in Kenwood, 17 in Mark “We lost 19 trees,” he said. “The wood
Replacing bridges in valley West Springs and two in Rincon Valley. chips are made from our trees.”
An unexpected obstacle to rebuilding Most of the interest in such units has been
homes in the wake of the fires is the damage to help people who lost their homes, said Matt You can reach Janis Mara at janis.mara@
to the valley’s many bridges. If a bridge is Hernandez, director of operations for hybrid- sonomanews.com.
“The staff and the students are my therapy. Just being with them
and seeing them every day keeps me going.”
Helping students,
REGINA CUCULICH, associate superintendent of business for the Mark West Union School District who lost her home in the October wildfires
selves to recover
For Regina Cuculich, associate superintendent of business of the Mark West Union School District at John B. Riebli Elementary School in Santa Rosa, the answer for helping herself and the
school recover from the October wildfires was going to work. She has been central to filing all the required insurance and FEMA claims and determining school schedules and budgets.
L
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H13
SR’s Hidden Valley Elementary students, staff adapt to wave of postfire change
By DANNY MUELLER tary School was still buzzing
P
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
with energy.
op music bounced “We didn’t know exactly
from the speakers what to expect from over
and reverberated the summer,” said Brad
from the classroom Coscarelli, the school’s new
walls, while kids raced principal.
around the playground, He was sitting next to
tracing loose patterns Kim McKay, a kindergarten
across the pavement as teacher who taught his four
buses rolled into position. children, reflecting on the
School was out for the day, McKenzie Condron, 5, is greeted by companion dog Garth, who promise of a new school year.
was making the rounds to comfort kindergartners on the first day
but Hidden Valley Elemen- of class at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa. TURN TO NORMAL » PAGE H15
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Families gather to reconnect in the drop-off area at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa on the first day of the new school year.
NORMAL
CONTINUED FROM H13
In October, the Tubbs fire burned
McKay’s classroom at Hidden Valley Satel-
lite off Parker Road. The school was com-
pletely destroyed in the firestorm, displacing
more than 80 students from kindergarten to
second grade. Hidden Valley Elementary, a
school of more than 500 students, was left
standing. For students displaced by the fire,
the larger campus was both a welcoming
and intimidating place as classes resumed.
“She was terrified, really,” said Julie Lees,
whose 5-year-old daughter, Emily, attended
kindergarten at the satellite campus. Less
than two months into the school year, Emily
had been learning the rules, routines and
rhythms of kindergarten.
She knew her teacher, Ms. McKay, had
taught her older brothers. She had made
friends in her class. Both parents worked at
Keysight Technologies, just a few minutes’ Eunyong Hwang works with her 5-year-old son, Jewoo Han, before class at Hidden Valley Elementary.
walk from her school.
Then, everything changed overnight. ers and the 83 students who followed them focusing on “wellness, on resiliency, on the
October’s Tubbs fire destroyed thousands to the main campus. Reading spaces became health of everybody” in the new school year.
of homes and structures in Santa Rosa, improvised classrooms. Books and dividers A school counselor now works with students
including the Leeses’ Fountaingrove home played the part of walls. With files lost to the on a full-time basis.
and the Hidden Valley Satellite campus. The flames, some teachers had less than two days Even as Hidden Valley starts the school year
massive blaze also damaged several Key- to set up their classrooms and design new united, some parents expressed hope that the
sight office buildings. lesson plans. small satellite campus would be rebuilt.
“We saw our house on fire on the news,” Kim McKay’s classroom was tucked Rick Edson, assistant superintendent
Julie Lees said. “We’d heard about the sat- into a corner of the after-school child care of business services at Santa Rosa City
ellite. We’d seen our house, and now we’re room on the west end of the main campus. Schools, said neither the district nor Key-
thinking our work had burned down as well.” Friends and fellow teachers helped stock her sight Technologies has put forward plans to
Three weeks after the fires, Emily started improvised classroom. She called the period rebuild. But the idea of housing an “edu-
school again — this time, attending Hidden a “complete blur.” cational facility” on the now-cleared patch
Valley Elementary’s main campus. It was a “For us, it was kind of a culture shock,” of land has been discussed in meetings
period of rapid change for the Lees family. McKay said. “We went from a school of 85 between the district and company, he said.
But they were far from alone. to a school up here that was over 500. My “We have had conversations with Key-
Between the two Hidden Valley campuses, kids’ heads were literally on a swivel. It was sight, and there is interest from them to
about a quarter of the student population — information and stimulus overload. “ have some type of educational facility at
around 161 students — lost their homes in Enrollment has fluctuated at the school. that site,” Edson said. “We’re interested in at
October. On the first day of school last year, combined as well. We just don’t know what it’s going to
“I had eight students in my class of 19 who enrollment at the Hidden Valley schools look like at this point.”
had lost their homes and their school,” was 602 students, according to office man- Meanwhile, Kim McKay said she is feeling
McKay said. “They had a new home or living ager Kristin Colgrove. This year, it’s at 537 grateful for the basics.
situation. In addition, they had a new school students — significantly less, but still 19 more “When people say, ‘How do you like your
with a new set of rules.” students than the main campus had last year. new classroom?’ I’m like, ‘It has four walls,’”
Hidden Valley Elementary found creative Coscarelli, the former principal at Santa McKay said. “I have no complaints. I have
ways to accommodate satellite campus teach- Rosa High School, said Hidden Valley is walls.”
Kindergarten teacher Kim McKay conducts a student evaluation of Cami Tharp, 5, at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa on Wednesday.
H16 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
Students compare notes during an Advancement Via Individual Determination high school class on Aug. 16 at Roseland Collegiate Prep. The school has taken over the site of the former
Displaced, but
Roseland University Prep after parts of their campus was destroyed during the October wildfires.
still determined
Temporary home for
Roseland Collegiate Prep
in converted warehouse
testing resilience of
young charter school
By MELODY KARPINSKI
S
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
“As a school, we were all deeply saddened by the loss of our home. ... When the fire
ended and reality struck, we were all dreading going back to school.”
DANIELA CABRERA, Roseland Collegiate Prep senior and Associated Student Body president
H18 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
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H20 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
A banner with scribbles of encouragement hangs at Anova Center for Education, a Santa Rosa-based school for students with autism. Middle schooler
An enduring mantra
Anthony, right, works on a project in his geography class Tuesday in a portable classroom. The school burned down during the October wildfires.
By MEGHAN HERBST
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FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H21
recovery
By KERRY BENEFIELD
Maria Carrillo High athletes, coaches
who lost almost everything in October fires
discover support via healing power of sport
‘M
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
O
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT