Wildfires in Los Angeles disrupted school for thousands of vulnerable students

More than 750,000 students in Los Angeles missed school due to January’s devastating wildfires, with low-income, Latino, and English-language learners facing the greatest hardships, a new analysis finds.

Liza Gross reports for Inside Climate News.

In short:

• The L.A. wildfires killed 29 people and damaged over 16,250 buildings, including schools, displacing students and disrupting education.
• Three out of four affected students were from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and two out of five were multilingual learners who rely on in-person language support.
• School closures also cut off access to essential services like meals and after-school programs, further stressing families, especially undocumented immigrants facing additional fears of deportation.

Key quote:

“The basic facts are undeniable. Extreme weather events, made more frequent and intense by climate change, pose a clear and present danger to our education system.”

— Matthew Kraft, associate professor of education and economics, Brown University

Why this matters:

As climate-driven disasters become more frequent and intense, schools across the country, especially those in vulnerable communities, are struggling to keep classrooms open and students on track. Wildfires, floods, and extreme heat are forcing closures, sometimes for weeks, disrupting learning and straining families who rely on schools for far more than education.

For students in disadvantaged communities, the impact is especially severe. Many depend on schools for daily meals, access to technology, and language support. When classrooms shut down, those lifelines disappear. The disruptions also place added pressure on working parents who may not have flexible jobs or reliable childcare options. As climate disasters become more frequent, the question looms: How can schools adapt to a reality where extreme weather is no longer an occasional threat, but a recurring challenge?

Related: High school students lead push for fossil-free investments