North Bay school rebuilding after Tubbs Fire awaits PG&E power to reopen
SANTA ROSA -- It has been seven years since the deadly Tubbs Fire consumed large portions of the city of Santa Rosa. That included a special school that is just now completing reconstruction. As the school owners race the clock to reopen by the end of the year, they say they're being held up by delays from PG&E, a company which many in the North Bay blame for the megafires in the region.
Anova is a privately owned and operated school for high-functioning autistic youngsters who have difficulty coping in a traditional school environment. It was a huge blow when the school building was destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
"The problem with kids with autism is they don't do well with change and transition and things they don't expect," said Anova founder and CEO, Andrew Bailey. "So, the night of the Tubbs Fire, nine of our students also lost their homes."
The rest lost their school and, ever since, they have been working out of portable classrooms at the old site while a new school was being built. Now it's almost finished.
"We have $22 million project. It's 80 percent done," Bailey said. "We just need that last piece of the puzzle which is getting our electricity hooked up so we can finish this job and get these kids home."
That hasn't been easy. The new school needs to have a power pole installed on the property and much of the finish work can't be performed until electricity is established. The utility says it cannot give a time when that will happen.
"I asked the representative twice if they were able to give me just a ballpark, not a date but, like, maybe a month when they might be able to get this done and they were unable to do that," Bailey said.
The school is racing the clock to be able to open in January after the winter break and Bailey said it's ironic that a utility which he blames for burning down the school is now delaying its reopening. PG&E denies that it is responsible for the Tubbs Fire but it paid a $13.6 billion settlement to wildfire victims, including from that fire.
"What I do know," said Bailey, "is that the public has a pretty firm belief here in Sonoma County in particular that PG&E is responsible for the Tubbs Fire."
Bailey said the company told him that installing the pole would take a three-man crew one day to accomplish. In a statement from the utility on Sunday, a spokesperson wrote, "PG&E has escalated this project in our system and we are working with Anova on the remaining steps. We understand Anova's timeline of moving in over winter break and PG&E is committed to doing our part to meet that timeline."
For that, Bailey said, he would be sincerely grateful.
"We have to clamor a little bit and I have to be a loud voice on behalf of our kids and, if that makes me a little unpopular with PG&E right now, then I'm willing to take that risk," he said. "And I'll be the first one to line up to shake their hand and thank them and invite them to our ribbon-cutting ceremony when this is done."
Anova is a private school serving K-12 students from the public school districts but the new campus was built entirely with donations from the community. When completed, it will offer a welcoming environment to kids who could really use a sense of permanence in a place that is still very much in transition.
More information about the school is available at the Anova website.