One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
How will Mayor Bass' executive order help LA preschools and daycares reopen?
LA Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
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.
-
Childcare providers say they know that their work is critical to allowing families to find new housing or return to work. But they're also trying to figure out how they themselves will recover, or stay afloat at all. -
Almost two months after the L.A. fires, some childcare providers who lost their homes and businesses say they're not able to access the aid they've been told to apply for. -
Felisa Wright lost her home and her livelihood in the Eaton Fire. She didn't stop fighting to return.
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.
Sponsored message
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.
Do you have a question about the wildfires or fire recovery?
Check out LAist.com/FireFAQs to see if your question has already been answered. If not, submit your questions here, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.
_
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
