Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District prepares schools for severe winter storms and El Niño impacts

Students, staff, and families across the district face potential campus closures, power outages, and transportation disruptions along coastal routes like the Pacific Coast Highway, while receiving alternative digital learning materials without academic penalties.

• •The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is preparing campuses for severe winter storms associated with an El Niño system.
• •The district's disaster preparedness effort is coordinated through the SMMUSD READY program.
• •Crews are inspecting roofs, gutters, storm drains, and heating systems, with significant roof work completed at Will Rogers Elementary School, John Adams Middle School, and Santa Monica High School.
• •Generators are in place at Malibu schools to provide backup power for essential operations.
• •Concrete K-rail barriers remain installed at Webster Elementary School as an added precaution following the Franklin Fire.
• •The district's Continuity of Learning Plan provides digital and take-home materials for transitional kindergarten through 12th-grade students if in-person classes are disrupted.
• •Students will not face academic penalties if they cannot access remote learning materials during a weather-related closure.
• •Schools maintain at least a three-day supply of breakfast and lunch meals, including shelf-stable food that does not require refrigeration.
• •Officials are monitoring transit routes, including the Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu canyon roads, where severe weather can cut off access.