Department of Education tallies up damage from storms

Most California schools reported minor damage from the succession of storms that hit the state in January, but four school districts are still trying to recover from major damage, according to information reported to the California Department of Education Emergency Services Team.

Classrooms, offices and the school library at Planada Elementary School in Merced County flooded after a levee broke. Three hundred students and teachers are now sharing classrooms at nearby Cesar E. Chavez Middle School, according to the Merced County Times. It could take up to 10 months to repair the damage to the elementary school.

At Sunol Glen Elementary, in Alameda County, classrooms and offices were flooded, and the playground and garden destroyed after a nearby creek burst through the fence leaving mud and downed trees in its wake. The students have returned to the school.

Damage was also reported at Collegeville Elementary School in Stockton, where three classrooms had unspecified damage, and at Arena Union Elementary School and Pacific Community Charter School in Mendocino County, where a tree fell on a building that houses both schools.