In the face of growing parent frustration, officials announced a game plan Tuesday to shuffle students locked out of their Huntington Beach campuses for more than a week because of asbestos to other schools in the district.
Ocean View School District administrators said the plan will be in place before the school bell rings Thursday morning.
“It's a moving target. We have to see what's available, clean and with furniture and instruction materials,” district spokesman Tom DeLapp said.
Ocean View School District plans to move 1,600 students into nine different locations, some up to ten miles away in Buena Park. Authorities promising classrooms will stay together, and that buses will transport those students to the new locations.
Lake View, Oak View and Hope View schools have been closed for more than a week, since the deadly material was discovered during construction.
With each day, parents have grown more frustrated, and some said Tuesday the plan just isn’t enough.
Jen DeLachica said she is tired of waiting. She plans to transfer her son to another district.
“If I transfer, I have three friends there and I could see them still,” said her son, Jonah, a fourth grader.
Other parents said they are concerned not only about their children who are currently attending the affected schools, but also older children who previously went to school at one of the three campuses.
Paige Contadoy’s three children attended Hope View Elementary, one of the now-closed schools. On Tuesday, she was home with her daughter Rowan, trying to keep up with her Kindergarten homework.
“I'm concerned for the kids who were there previously, for me having helped in the classroom and I'm terrified for her,” Contadoy said.
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Late Tuesday afternoon experts were made available to talk to parents about their asbestos concerns, explaining that every school in the district is now being tested.
One challenge is that any of the books and even pencils can't be moved out of the affected schools, which has prompted the parents of one special education class to start a Go Fund Me campaign, to replace the things they need.
District officials said they will continue to work through the coming weeks with experts to transition students and materials to the other existing campuses that are unaffected by asbestos.
