The Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Education discussed school safety and the District’s response to the December 5 tsunami warning at its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, January 14. Board Vice President Ryan LaLonde also spoke with the Alameda Post regarding the Board Clerk election process that took place during the December 16 Board meeting.
Superintendent details AUSD tsunami warning response
At around 10:50 a.m. on Thursday, December 5, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tsunami warning following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the California coast near Humboldt County.
Minutes after the alert, AUSD leadership contacted the City of Alameda’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and issued a Shelter-in-Place order to all schools at around 11:30 a.m. Less than 20 minutes later, the City’s Emergency Operations Team advised AUSD to evacuate Paden Elementary School and Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School (EHS) due to their location near the water. EHS students and Transitional Kindergarten through First Grade Paden students evacuated to the College of Alameda and Franklin Elementary School, respectively, which are on higher ground and less susceptible to tsunami risk.
At 11:55 a.m., the NWS cancelled the tsunami warning, though local officials elected to pursue a “holding pattern” to extend emergency protocols until 12:10 p.m.—the time at which a potential tsunami was originally projected to reach the Bay Area. AUSD lifted the Shelter-in-Place at 12:36 p.m. and notified Paden families regarding the whereabouts of their children. Encinal students were released for the day.
“By and large, we did a good job,” summarized Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi, as he detailed the District’s response for the Board. However, he called out several lessons learned that could inform future emergency responses, suggesting that additional and clearer communication with parents and the City’s EOC may have been beneficial.
Scuderi also explained that Paden’s youngest students evacuated to Franklin because their classrooms are on the first floor, and that Franklin was chosen due to better logistical options for reunification with parents than a closer school, like Maya Lin. Scuderi surmised that the evacuation of both Paden and Encinal could have been reversed while students were midway to their evacuation points, but noted that staff took a conservative approach given the available information and fluid situation.
In a follow-up presentation, Kirsten Zazo, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, detailed the stringent safety measures at each of the District’s 16 schools. Each site must prepare a comprehensive school safety plan that includes an assessment of crime, school safety perception, and strategies to provide a high level of school safety. Schools also rotate through a year-round schedule of safety procedures and drills, such as lockdowns.
LaLonde clarifies Board election process
During the election of Board officers at the December 16 Board of Education meeting, Trustee Meleah Hall alleged that Member Ryan LaLonde’s nomination of Member Heather Little as Board Clerk violated Board bylaws. LaLonde spoke with the Alameda Post to clarify the incident.
Board Bylaw 9100 states that the Clerk “shall be [a Board member] who previously has not held Board office, unless all Board members have previously held Board office or all members who have not previously held Board office decline their nominations.” Since all other Board members have previously held Board office—Little has served as Vice President and President—Hall believed she should have been the lone Member eligible to become Board Clerk.
“It wasn’t how I read it in the past,” LaLonde explained to the Post, noting that he had not been aware of Hall’s interpretation of the bylaw, nor her desire to discuss her own eligibility during the meeting. LaLonde said he wished that Hall had raised her concerns to fellow Board members prior to the meeting and that it was not his intention to usurp Hall by nominating Little.
He also pointed out that previous officer elections have also occurred on a case-by-case basis when it came to the interpretation of the bylaws. LaLonde himself faced a similar situation following his election to the Board, when Member Gary Lym was instead elected Board Clerk for 2023.
LaLonde emphasized that all Board members eventually rotate through the three elected roles, and mentioned that in a follow-up conversation he had with Hall, she stated that had she actually been nominated during the meeting, she would have ultimately turned down the role.
Ken Der is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact him via [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Ken-Der.
