Abbie Schiller - There are dozens of parents on an environmental WhatsApp group that share deep concern about the type of remediation efforts happening at Pali. While Rick Caruso stripped his stores and restaurants to the studs and rebuilt them, we have been told that classrooms won't even be repainted. How are parents supposed to trust the efforts to keep our children safe from the carcinogenic and toxic dust that contaminated our classroom, cafeteria, theater, fields, library, and entire campus as well as the whole community? What is Pali and LAUSD doing to ensure the dangerous microscopic particles have been safely removed from the walls, sound proofed porous ceilings, rugs, desks, theater seats, kitchens, bleachers, and every other surface of that campus? Additionally, do the new trailers off gas VOCs as they are known to do? Were they exposed to the silica, lead, asbestos and other dangerous particles from the use of Temescal for hazardous materials? Have they been tested? The fact that we haven't seen ANY air or surface testing results is deeply concerning and leaving this information to parents until late December is a potential PR disaster waiting to happen. If the school isn't ready, we want to know now. If you're planning on sending kids back to a campus that isn't entirely safe, we want to know that too. If you believe it will be fully ready, we want to know that too. And we want to know HOW it is fully safe. 
I'm one parent, on behalf of many, trying to keep our kids clear of lung cancer, leukemia, cardiac issues and chronic coughs.

Anonymous-Want to see students get back to campus but want to make sure the mediation is completely finished, including new carpet, HVAC safe, repaint etc

Anonymous-I am an alumni parent of 2 proud Pali High Grads and before the fire I was a Palisades resident and I hope to be able to return home safely. Pali High is an important pillar of our entire community and I'm concerned that insurance is driving the testing protocol versus science. My neighbor has remediated 3 times and still failed clearance (in the Pali High Vicinity). I would like to request transparency on the TEM testing for asbestos which measures the small airborne particles that are most dangerous. Has this been done as insurance often does wipes instead, masking the true need for remediation. We do not want to become a cancer cluster due to insurance not doing the proper testing required for the fire + asbestos processing plant located in close proximity to the campus. Unless proper remediation is paid for by insurance now, Palisades residents will be left footing the bill (and the health price could be lost lives).

Anonymous (due to bullying on the Riding the Wave WhatsApp group when questions were raised, many parents are concerned that are scared to speak up) - General Comment  

I am very worried that zero indoor testing protocols or results have been shared for the fire and smoke damaged still standing buildings. Many friends with still standing homes in the close by area to Pali are finding that they need to remove drywall and/or encapsulate to make the spaces safe. When I listened to the last environmental update, Jennifer from LAUSD and Pam Magee confirmed that no indoor painting was being done and that lithium wasn't being tested for. SO many Tesla battery walls and cars burned and a lot of lithium is being found in neighboring homes that needs to be treated in a special way to make it safe. I believe both of these are important safety steps. Please reconsider and be a voice for the safety of the students. Thank you.

Anonymous - As a Pali High parent, I would like to know with honest assurance that the campus will be a safe place to return my student to. I wholeheartedly want my child to be able to return to campus and resume their education and campus activities as were taking place before the tragic fire. However, I have serious concerns about the extent to which the campus is being cleaned and the measures being taken to insure that toxins have been scrubbed from the campus. I would like to hear the details of what has been replaced vs what has been kept; that all exposed surfaces have been cleaned, replaced, painted, etc., under comprehensive guidelines that protect our children under the highest standards. We definitely want our student back on campus and to have the high school experience that we anticipated prior to the fire. I also want and hope that the school does everything in its power to create a healthy environment for that high school experience to take place in.

Anonymous - We love Pali and are hoping to return when it is safe and hopefully when more of the community has been rebuilt so children don’t see as much devastation. From what we have heard from several Pali students, they like the Sears building and surrounding community. We have concerns that Pali administration may be rushing back to campus due to the pressure from parents. We do not want Pali staff or students to have cancer or some other problem in ten years because we rushed back too soon just so we can be back on Pali’s campus. We are already in-person and that can suffice for now. Please take your time and triple verify that the air quality, soil and anything else that needs to be tested is completed before returning. Please do not succumb to public pressure when it goes against the health and well-being of students and staff. Thank you!

Anonymous - As a pali high parent and owner of a still standing home with smoke damage I am deeply concerned that no one from LAUSD has discussed with us that drywall is porous. It has likely absorbed smoke and fire related VOCs and will continue to off gas. Please provide us with the air testing conducted and consider replacing the drywall or AT THE VERY LEAST encapsulating with paint. Our children should not be science experiments!!

anonymous -I wanted to say that if you know that nearby houses contained asbestos and burned down, and Pali High buildings in the burn zone contained ash/soot, then it is likely that Pali High ash/soot contains/contained some of that asbestos. Plus the asbestos crushed in huge quantities near Pali High for months for 7000 homes. Testing can miss asbestos if they didn’t test enough samples or don't use TEM testing (gold standard in this circumstance). So super good cleaning and remediation is important, much more so than usual. Asbestos can cause lung cancer if airborne particles are inhaled, so its toxicity is different than that of heavy metals. Please make sure that the remediation by LAUSD is taking this into account and show transparency on the protocols being used by the remediation company. I beg you. For the sake of teachers, admin and students all. This tragedy needs to not have a second act that we find out later could have been avoided by good testing and remediation for airborne asbestos protocols.

Andrew C - The army corp of engineers did all of the asbestos processing on Temescal near Pali High. That airborne asbestos is cause for great concern if very thorough airborne testing and mediation has not been performed on Palisades Charter High's campus. The community depends on this thorough effort. As trustees, under the law, you must consider the necessary science and health implications and not rely on insurance only testing without independent TEM asbestos testing and compliance with proper repair efforts to safely mitigate the campus before students return.

anon - LA County just opened an investigation into fraud in claims processing by insurers (not testing properly and investigating losses related to the Jan. 7 fire). I want to speak up and ask that the board and trustees do independent and thorough pre-testing and demand strong mediation protocols for this mega fire that burned Pali High's campus in a significant way. Unless the trustees and board speak up, I am very concerned that the insurance testing and LAUSD testing will be inadequate and that Pali High will not get the full benefits that should be paid to return the school to it's safe pre-fire condition. Insurance has responsibility to return the school to it's pre-fire condition fully and I want to voice this concern. Thank you for listening. The asbestos processing operation so close to school property that released airborne asbestos is of particular concern.

C Miller - Parents are very concerned that no remediation efforts completed or planned/underway has been shared. Was TEM testing done prior to the work to be sure that proper airborne asbestos protocols and techniques are being used at Pali High? If the school was not remediated at a sufficient level for positive TEM which has been found at many many still standing homes in the direct vicinity-then I am deeply worried. Please reassure us and share the pretesting that was done that dictated the protocols. Too many neighbors had their insurance testing determine the remediation (and thus only wipe down for lead and not do the proper remediation for the other substances that were released in this particular unusually hot fire with tons of batteries and asbestos burned). They are now failing their clearance testing because insurance didn't test properly for airborne asbestos and instead used a poor wipe test technique. The community is depending on your leadership. We want a voice and a clear path to return to Pali safely for all future generations.

Anonymous - General Comment 

I’m deeply concerned about the amount of remediation that has been implemented at the school, and am worried that we’re potentially looking at a 9/11 ground zero situation down the line. I want to know that the administration is doing everything they can to ensure our students’ safety.

Anonymous teacher- General Comment  

Many teachers are worried that no indoor testing or list of repairs has been shared so far. They have heard that the insurance company is driving the repairs and did very limited testing. As our lives are at stake, how can this info not be shared so teachers can collectively meet and decide if the repairs and remediation performed is enough? Given the extensive burn area on campus and the neighborhood toxicity shown in unbiased testing in nearby impacted homes, we request full disclosure of the procedures followed to clean the campus (was it sufficient for asbestos at the levels of this fire for instance). We want to be able to ask questions and be informed.

Anonymous parent - General Comment (Please read at the beginning of the meeting)

I watched the environmental Pali High Zoom and many of the answers were worrisome. Why is lithium not being tested for as indicated on the Zoom? When it is so very harmful and released in high quantities in this fire since so many batteries burned in the neighborhood? I am also concerned about the very small particles of asbestos that were released onto campus during the cleanup by the army corps of engineers. Can we get a clear list of what was removed, repaired and what was just "cleaned"? If just cleaned, what was used to clean various surfaces. For instance, the acoustic absorbant tiles in the ceiling, have those all been replaced? What about HVAC? What about porous wall surfaces and flooring? We were sent an insulting survey about what a welcome back celebration would look like but zero input has been asked about life or death remediation decisions. How is this possible? I am a Pali alum and parent both, I expect more. Lead us through this disaster with courage and information as your guide. There is a lot of expertise in our community that can help.

Ramin Moussavi - Environmental safety is essential before returning to the Pacific Palisades campus. The school should provide third-party certified environmental reports addressing any potential contamination risks, including asbestos, VOCs, lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Classrooms and enclosed spaces should have activated carbon HEPA filtration running 24/7. All hard surfaces should be cleaned and wiped down daily to prevent possible contamination brought in through student foot traffic. No soft furnishing. The school should coordinate with nearby vacant lots to ensure they are properly seeded to reduce dust and contaminants blowing onto campus. Additionally, neighboring active construction sites should install wind socks so that work can pause if winds are blowing toward the school. I have been asked by numerous teachers, parents and students about going on Zoom for the weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break. I know we do not love Zoom, but I am truly concerned about being ready to go at Pali on January 13. Last April’s rollout at Sears was awful…to put it mildly. There was minimal instruction due to WiFi problems, lack of materials, lack of printers, copy machines, etc. for a month. I know none of us want to repeat that again. I would rather serve students by ensuring their school is really ready to go in January. While the timeline that has been shared looks great, we are dealing with major construction and moving of materials. Additionally, I can say with certainty we are all hanging by a thread at Sears. Walk the halls and you can see it on staff, faculty and student faces. There are folks afraid of toxins at Pali, but may be unaware of toxins and allergens at Sears. There have been numerous health issues happening in the last month. I urge the Board to please consider or reconsider at least some Zoom time prior to winter break. Please let us come back to a functioning school so students can have a happy homecoming. Thank you for your work, time and consideration in this endeavor.

• LAUSD has completed the environmental work on several buildings and turned them over to the Pali Facilities team so we are able to enter them. 
• LAUSD has indicated to the admin that they want to complete more testing and have all results before they release the information. 
• Mr. Negroe indicated LAUSD has completed category 5 cleaning using an environmental remediation company called Airtech. Noted that water lines flushed, HVAC ducts opened and cleaned. Ceiling tiles were tested. Our interior walls are not drywall so do not require the same protocols as drywall remediation. Air cleaning and surface cleaning and testing being completed in all spaces. The testing and the supervision of the cleaning has been done by a separate company called Citadel. He expressed that they have done an extremely thorough job and have taken precautions at every stage to avoid any recontamination of cleaned spaces. Buildings have only been released to Pali facilities team after air and surface tests come back clear. Some buildings undergoing further cleaning. There have not been any indications that cleanup will not be completed before next semester. 
• The Pali admin and board have no control over any of the remediation or cleaning. All controlled by LAUSD. Dr. Magee and Maggie expressed frustration with the pace of information coming from LAUSD. The admin will encourage LAUSD to release more info at their next meeting. The admin and board would appreciate more transparency from LAUSD. 
• Mr. Negroe guided board members on a tour through the campus including the admin building, D, G, the temporary village, the pool area, the auditorium and the outdoor spaces. We were able to enter classrooms in the buildings that have completed remediation. We were also able to enter classrooms in the new bungalows that have been installed. 
• The facilities team is in the process of setting up the furniture in the classrooms that have been turned over from LAUSD.
• There are new solar powered air quality sensors placed around campus and moved periodically to capture air quality data.
• Mr. Negroe indicated that this situation has given us an opportunity to upgrade some of the school infrastructure including items that were not actually impacted by the fires. For instance, they have installed new gas mains. 
• Work on the pool area is underway. 
• Field and track repair materials have been delivered to campus. Electricians working now on the field lights and broadcasting booth. Turf removal scheduled to start this week. Followed by grading and installation of new turf, and then replacement of the track. 

next regular board meeting is Tuesday 12/9 at 5 pm.