EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — Another round of PG&E power shutoffs began Wednesday morning, leaving hundreds of thousands in Northern California in the dark and forcing some schools to close.
Although schools in the 18 counties being affected are closing during the outage, Rescue Elementary School in El Dorado County's decided to keep its doors open during the two-day power shutoff.
The PG&E map shows a chance of the outage affecting Rescue Elementary School starting Wednesday afternoon, impacting the campus Thursday and Friday. However, Rescue Union School District officials notified parents via email that even if the power goes out, classes will continue as scheduled. The email said the district has enough generators and electric heaters to warm the rooms.
Rescue Elementary School Principal Dustin Haley told ABC10 the school’s kitchen staff will serve regular breakfast and lunch at the school and all other RUSD campuses. Teachers and staff will also have battery operated lanterns and lights for bathrooms and darker areas.
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“The district has made it it’s priority to provide some consistency for kids, so they have a place to go and continue learning even if we don’t have power,” Haley said.
Additionally, Haley said generators will keep office phones and internet running so that "all teachers will have communication between classrooms and the office."
"This is a plan the district hopes to implement when power is shutoff, but obviously every wind event will be analyzed individually," he said.
Jose Quinonez’s daughter is a second grade student at Rescue Elementary. He didn’t send his daughter to school during the last two PG&E shutoffs and plans on having her stay home this time too.
"It’s just not safe," Quinonez told ABC10. 'It’s dark, it’s going to be cold, even with a heater — that just makes me concerned."
Haley said he understands the concerns, but wants to remind parents this is all carefully planned. “I want to remind parents their kids will be safe, it will be a normal school day for everyone,” he said.
Follow the conversation with Carlos Herrera on Facebook.
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