How will Mayor Bass' executive order help LA preschools and daycares reopen?

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order Tuesday aimed at speeding up the recovery of childcare centers and schools after the L.A. fires.

The order creates a "streamlined path" for centers that need to relocate by giving the city's Department of Building and Safety permission to grant temporary 180-day permits for childcare and schools, regardless of zoning.

The mayor also directed Los Angeles City Planning officials to create a faster review process for authorizing childcare and school sites for longer-term temporary use.

How bad is the situation?

A spokesperson for the mayor's office said that at least 14 schools in L.A. were affected by the fires, five of them preschools. The Eaton Fire primarily affected Altadena in unincorporated L.A. County and Pasadena, which is its own city.

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In total, 280 childcare facilities remain closed due to fire damage, according to numbers released last week by the California Department of Social Services. It’s not yet clear how many centers will benefit from the mayor’s order.

A spokesperson for L.A. County Department of Public Health said the order, combined with emergency licenses for childcare providers from the state Department of Social Services, should speed up the process to open new childcare spaces in Los Angeles.

Bass' order allows some schools and childcare centers that were not directly affected by the fires to apply for a temporary authorization to increase enrollment and serve children who were displaced.

The directive follows an earlier executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom that eased restrictions around temporary facilities for schools and suspended some class size restrictions for impacted schools in L.A. County.