Board debates school closures after power outages, weighs generators and food-service limits

A board member said the district should consider whether to invest in on-site generation or battery backup after schools closed during a recent power outage, but officials warned such systems would be costly and might not solve attendance problems.

At the meeting one board member said, “It bothered me a lot that we had to close the schools because of power went out,” and asked staff to place the topic on a future agenda. Board and staff participants discussed three interrelated concerns: whether families could get ready and travel to school during an outage, whether nutrition services could supply meals without power, and the capital cost of installing generation and batteries.

Superintendent Marquez and other participants said attendance during outages is uncertain — one board member estimated as low as 50 percent — and that running generators would not address issues such as dark homes or parents’ inability to prepare children for school. Staff also noted that if the district had power generation but students did not show up, the district could strain average daily attendance (ADA) funding.

District staff observed that generators or solar-plus-battery systems would be expensive, potentially used only a few days per year, and would require batteries to cover cloudy or rainy conditions. Nutrition services staff were cited as concerned about meal preparation logistics if power is intermittent.

Board members agreed the item warranted a future agenda discussion to evaluate costs, attendance risks and operational trade-offs; no decisions or formal actions were taken at the meeting.