FEMA awards $250,000 grant for Sonoma County schools to prepare for natural disasters

Over the next three years, each of Sonoma County’s ?175 public school sites will prepare ways to lessen the severity of natural disasters on facilities, thanks to a quarter-million dollar federal grant.

The $249,706 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will help school districts create hazard mitigation plans, which identify risks to school sites from earthquakes, fires, floods and severe storms. The plans analyze historical data on hazards at school sites and outline resources to reduce the threat of future disasters.

The October 2017 wildfires, which wiped out 5,300 homes countywide, spurred the Sonoma County Office of Education to apply for the grant last year.

“It’s not ‘if’ another event happens, it’s ‘when’ another event happens,” Mary Downey, deputy superintendent of Sonoma County schools.

While the county and most cities have their own plans in place, they do not include detailed plans for schools, which are in separate jurisdictions.

Cecily Condon, a county planner who worked on developing the county’s hazard mitigation plan over the course of a year and a half, said schools should create their own plans.

“We can identify the risks but since schools are outside our jurisdiction, we are limited,” Condon said. “It makes sense for each jurisdiction to develop their own mitigation strategies.”

Mitigation strategies could include vegetation maintenance to lessen the spread of wildfires or stabilizing the banks of nearby creeks and rivers for flood control, Condon said.

The county government has hazard mitigation plans for earthquakes, floods, wildfires and landslides. The documents analyze historical disasters, risks of future calamities and ways to prepare beforehand for those situations - in contrast with a response plan, which outlines what to do during and after a disaster.

The county’s 35-page hazard mitigation plan for wildfires notes there are 12 Sonoma County public schools - mostly elementary schools - and four private schools that are in areas of high wildfire risk. Approved by FEMA six months before the destructive October 2017 fires, the plan does not list the names of the schools.

“Following the Tubbs fire, SCOE recognized the imperative to help schools be as prepared as possible,” said Steve Herrington, Sonoma County superintendent of schools. “This hazard mitigation plan will support Sonoma County schools in their efforts to be prepared and resilient in the face of future disasters.”

The Sonoma County Office of Education obtained signed letters of commitment from all 40 public school districts to apply for the FEMA grant. The three-year process to identify risks that can be mitigated will result in a plan that will be in effect for five years at no additional cost for school districts.

“It’s not just a single effort. This is really coming from the realization that we need this, but it’s not a one-stop project,” Downey said. “We know these events are going to happen, and we realize we need to be more organized.”

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com.