Planned power outages by utility companies are intended to lower the risk of wildfires during severe weather events. But as climate change prompts more extreme weather events and outages become more frequent, some California school districts say these outages are taking a steep financial toll.
As CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde reports, school districts can be notified of a shutoff in as little as an hour before the power goes off. To mitigate disruptions, some districts use their limited funds to pay for battery storage units or backup generators. Last year, Val Verde Unified School District redirected $500,000 from the school facilities budget to buy battery storage, and Jurupa Unified School District spent more than $364,000 on two generators.
- Bruce Bivins, Perris Elementary School District superintendent: “That could be better security on our campuses, more modernized facilities, better access to technology, or other things they can actually utilize right now versus the preparation for the possible one day this year (the power goes out).”
Besides high one-time costs, outages carry another financial risk. Schools get their state funding based, in part, on student attendance. When outages cause school closures or drops in attendance, schools can submit a waiver to the state Department of Education to protect their funding. But schools don’t always know how much they’ll be able to recover, and must wait until after the state reviews the waivers.
Blackouts disproportionately affect low-income families and students with disabilities. Because schools serve as community hubs, students not only miss a day of learning, but families also go without vital services, including free meals and child care.
- Melissa Kasnitz, legal director for the Center for Accessible Technology: “(Utilities) put a lot of time and effort and money … to calculate the risk of a wildfire actually starting in certain weather conditions. What they have not done is put any fraction of effort into evaluating the risk of what happens when you turn people’s power off.”
What’s next for criminal justice in California? Join us in Los Angeles or virtually today for a conversation with L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, former CDCR Director Dave Lewis and Heidi Rummel of the Post-Conviction Justice Project. They’ll talk with Joe Garcia, a formerly incarcerated CalMatters journalist who is the author of The New Yorker story ‘Listening to Taylor Swift in prison.’ Register here.
Focus on Inland Empire: Each Wednesday, CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Aidan McGloin surveys the big stories from that part of California. Read his newsletter and sign up here to receive it.
Other Stories You Should Know
CA sues over vaccines
The state is once again suing the Trump administration, but — twist! — this time it isn’t over federal funds. Instead, California is co-leading a 15-state lawsuit with Arizona over federal vaccine guidelines.
In January the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a memo revoking recommended status from seven vaccines: Rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that the state is suing the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the two heads of both agencies, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The lawsuit also challenges Kennedy’s June 2025 firing of a federal panel of vaccine advisers, whom he then replaced with vaccine critics.
The lawsuit comes five months after California officials said the state would break away from the CDC and join an alliance of western states to provide residents with vaccine information. This is the state’s 59th lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s second administration. For more on the other lawsuits, check out our tracker.
A renewed push for disabled eligibility expansion
California’s 21 regional centers help coordinate support services for some of the nearly half a million residents living with developmental or intellectual disabilities. But some parents of people with disabilities say thousands who should be eligible for services are shut out under current state law, writes CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra.
Regional centers connect people to therapies, adult day programs, independent living support, job training and more. To qualify for services in California, a person’s disability must begin before age 18. But some want to extend the “age of onset” rule to 22, putting the state in line with federal policy.
In 2022 Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have upped the maximum age, citing budget concerns. At the time, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that expanding services retroactively would increase eligibility by up to 2,000 people in the first year, and cost up to $60 million.
This year, Democratic Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo of Santa Clarita is pushing for eligibility expansion not through a standalone bill, but through the annual budget process, which could entail requesting an allocation through a budget trailer bill.
And lastly: Calls to cancel ICE contract
Today the Escondido City Council is reviewing an agreement the city made with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share its police firing range. ICE officers have been using the firing range since 2014, and the federal agency formalized its use of the range in a 2024 contract. But amid ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics under Trump’s deportation campaign, local activists and officials are calling on the city council to nix the contract. Read more from CalMatters’ Deborah Brennan.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: A bill to screen students’ math skills hopes to ride the success of a phonics law passed last year that addresses California’s low reading skills among public school students.
Despite California’s ambitious climate goals and sustainable solutions for organic waste diversion, hundreds of thousands of tons of food waste in the state go to landfills each year, writes Clemens Stockreiter, CEO of RE:CIRCLE Solutions.
Other things worth your time:
Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump // NPR
Ex-ICE instructor testifies that agency slashed officer training, lied to Congress // The Washington Post
Newsom’s father issues // The Atlantic
CA’s highest paid state workers see salaries grow even larger // The Sacramento Bee
Proposed CA home insurance laws would guarantee coverage for fire-safe homes // San Francisco Chronicle
Yosemite park ranger who was fired after hanging transgender flag files lawsuit // KQED
Kaiser mental health therapists authorize strike in Northern CA // San Francisco Chronicle
Trump sues UC for allegedly facilitating ‘grossly antisemitic acts’ on UCLA campus // LAist
Hollywood studios escalate dispute over ByteDance’s AI tools // Los Angeles Times