El Niño

In the drought-ridden state of California, rainwater is hard to come by. So one can imagine the awe of the Santa Monica community whenever rain has fallen during the past couple of weeks. Though it is a rare occurrence, the heavy precipitation has been expected to come with the quickly approaching, and notorious El Niño. Now, with bizarre weather conditions affecting the Samo campus, administration is coming up with a way to ensure the safety of every student at school.El Niño is a powerful climate event which takes place every two to seven years, and according to NBC News, 2016 will see the worst El Niño in over two decades. The extreme weather is caused by the heating of the Pacific Ocean, which results in warm winds blowing in from the sea. At the moment, El Niño is expected to last through the spring, creating an undesirable environment for Samo students.According to weather.com, the storms are predicted to be very powerful, but nothing incredibly dangerous. The rarity of storms of any kind have been leaving students unprepared.According to on-campus athletic support specialist Harry Keiley, the students will need to adjust to the foreign conditions.“The science and weather experts gave all of us fair warning,” Keiley said. “We should expect El Niño-like conditions this year. What most American high school students are accustomed to during the winter months is cold and rain; is not what our students are use too--nor adequately prepared for.”According to sophomore Connor Bass (’18), the recent rain falls have become an inconvenience to the students as they attempt to navigate Samo’s large campus.“El Niño begins to become an issue when the storm catches you unprepared,” Bass said. “One day, I saw many kids, including myself, without proper rain attire and a lot of kids were slipping in between classes.”Anytime students are prevented easy-to-travel routes around campus, disruption can occur.The Santa Monica Malibu Teachers Association (SMMCTA) president Sarah Braff, has been working as a teacher for 25 years, and has seen the El Niño Storms before. SMMCTA, whose job is to look after the employees in the district, received messages from worried teachers. According to Braff, she understands that the intense storms are becoming a nuisance at every school in the community.“We [the SMMCTA] are concerned for safety, convenience and teacher planning time. Because what happens often with teachers is that they have to supervise students in the rain and the students are not outside, they are in places they wouldn’t normally,” Braff said. “What we did as a union was we asked the district and the board in August to come up with plans at each school to see how to handle El Niño...each school is supposed to have a plan.”These plans are formulated at the district office, where the board and principals worked to come up with sufficient protocols for when the storms start becoming a frequent normality.According to Gary Bradbury, risk management coordinator for SMMUSD, the following steps were followed in order to ensure safety throughout the district. 

• Conducted an Emergency Operations Center Drill specific to winter storm scenarios
• Used a roofing contractor to check and repair roofs throughout the district.
• Maintenance and Operations staff worked to clear roof downspouts and storm drains
• Stocked up on sandbags
• Increased the schedule for trimming trees
•  Distributed to staff guidelines on safe footwear that included the properties of slip resistant soles
• The purchase of door mats for all sites (still in process)
• Provided district drivers with training on safe winter driving
• Maintenance staff readied to respond to any reports of water intrusion into district buildings

While the district plans for both the Santa Monica and Malibu communities, Samo Principal Eva Mayoral and the Samo administration are also looking out for students. According to Mayoral, students are getting caught in the rain while travelling across campus. The commotion that the storms have been causing result in crowds that are not easy to navigate through, but over Winter Break administration anticipated this problem.“Anytime we have something that’s going to get in the way of people navigating around the campus out in the elements I am concerned,” Mayoral said. “One of the things we put into place which is not rain specific, but the rain definitely exacerbates, is the extended bell schedule. [The new schedule] allows the students more time to traverse the campus.”The extended bell schedule which Mayoral speaks of is a recent adjustment to the school. Instead of being allocated seven minutes between class periods, students now have nine.According to Mayoral, administration is doing all they can to make everyone on campus as comfortable as possible during El Niño, but there isn’t much they can do about the actual weather.“When it rains, people have to be careful and watch where they’re stepping,” Mayoral said. “The big thing is asking all students to take their time, and I think having a little extra time to go through [the campus] sort of diminishes that.”Though the heating of the Pacific may disrupt the daily lives of students and staff alike, everyone needs to be prepared for the rain. According to Keiley, balancing the school day and the storms will be a challenge, but a manageable one at that.“High school and the teenage years are very demanding; compounding the experience is El Niño and the rains. A great life lesson and skill is to be be prepared; both for the known and unknown. I'd encourage our students to plan ahead and have your rain gear ready to be utilized this winter,” Keiley said.