Elementary School Students Return to School in San Bruno

At about 8am this morning, parents started unloading kids laden with backpacks, art projects and sweaters at John Muir Elementary School.

It was identical to nearly every other Monday at the elementary school, but this particular morning was a welcome return to routine for most students and parents. This was the first day San Bruno middle and elementary schools opened their doors after a gas explosion caused a fire that flattened dozens of homes and killed at least four local residents Thursday evening. 

"I'm actually glad they're going back and know that their friends are okay," said Jill Bussani, a mother of three whose two daughters go to John Muir.

Bussani, who lives on Hawthorne Avenue, said her family saw the explosion while at soccer practice.  After seeing the fire and hearing the rumble from the blast, her children became worried about their friends.

"They really clammed up; they were just scared," Bussani said, who organized a get-together at the park the next day so her kids could see that their friends were okay.  "We had a lot of ash in our house; that's what scared them the most.  The next day they were out collecting the ash."

Such reactions are normal for children, said Roberta Hauser, an art therapist and a member of the community response team in the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Division of the San Mateo County Health Department, during a presentation for parents in the cafeteria at the start of the school day.

"Everyone's sense of safety has been challenged," Hauser said to the dozens of parents who had gathered there.  "This is the beginning of the recovery process."

Hauser said mental health staff will be visiting classrooms today and through the week and will be available for consultations, usually with groups of two or three children at one time.  She told parents to reassure their children if they are agitated by focusing on the recovery efforts, pointing out the police officers and firefighters and telling them the danger is over: "The policemen are keeping you safe, the firemen are keeping you safe, your family is keeping you safe, your parents are keeping you safe," she said. 

Hauser said parents can anticipate that some children will worry about their friends and family, have nightmares and act out from stress.  She cautioned parents not to give their children more information than they ask for and to limit their exposure to media coverage of the fire.  Seeing continuous television coverage of a disaster can be traumatizing in and of itself for children, said Haiser. 

Routine and reassurance is crucial for getting kids through a difficult time, Hauser said.

The parents present at Hauser's talk had questions for the therapist and the school's principal, Frances Dunleavy.

One parent asked whether the gas pipes underneath John Muir Elementary have been inspected yet for safety by Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Dunleavy wasn't sure whether John Muir had undergone an inspection since the disaster, but assured everyone that the school's janitor had been there all weekend doing maintenance and checking the building's internal gas system. Other schools in the district have been inspected by PG&E, she said.

Another parent asked when the media helicopters will stop flying over the neighborhood, and whether it bothers the students.

Hauser said it's possible that the media presence and noises could bother students and parents alike.

"We're like an open wound right now," she said. "A noise, a siren is going to upset you."

She suggested parents let the mayor of San Bruno, Jim Ruane, know that they want him to talk to those that control airspace to see if a time limit might be imposed on the media's use of it. 

The fire hit especially close to home at John Muir because two students, a kindergartener and a fifth grader, lost their older sister, Jessica Morales, in the fire.  Morales' boyfriend, Joseph Ruigomez, is a John Muir alumnus and has been hospitalized at St. Francis Memorial Hospital for severe burns.

Stacy Palafoy's daughter is a fifth grader at John Muir and is in the same class as Jessica Morales' younger brother, Isaiah.

"I purposely did not tell her [that Isaiah's sister died] because I didn't know how, and I thought the school might do it better," Palafoy said.  "She's the type to fixate."

Palafoy said her family experienced a frightening moment during the fire when they couldn't immediately get to her son.  Her daughter hasn't wanted to talk about the fire, but cried that night and didn't want to watch coverage of it on TV.  Palafoy sent her to spend time with friends who were also upset so they could reassure each other.

"Her concern is, 'Can this happen to me?'" said Palafoy.

Allesandra Clark has a first-grader and a third-grader at John Muir.  She said her five-year-old son heard about the fire from television while out with his father.  He became very upset and fearful for the safety of his mother, still at home.

"He got very emotional; he was crying and yelling, 'I'm scared, I'm scared,'" said Clark. 

She said she came to the meeting so she can know what to expect in the next week.

"And what applies for the kids applies to us," she said.

For more resources on how to help children deal with trauma, visit the San Mateo County Health Department's Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Division's website.