California’s Fall 2025 Report Card: How school closures from extreme weather shaped last semester
More than one thousand California schools were impacted by extreme weather closures in the fall of 2025, totaling more than fifty five thousand lost instructional hours for California’s kids so far this school year.
Our Fall 2025 Extreme Weather Report Card (download PDF here) pulls together data from across the state, showing that disruptions span every major California region, with inland areas most affected by heat, foothill and the Wildland-Urban-Interface regions by wildfire and Public Safety Power Shutoffs, and coastal and North Coast communities by storms and flooding.
The primary driver of weather-related school closures and disruptions was extreme heat, accounting for more than 70% of lost instructional time. With record high temperatures, schools without working HVAC systems will continue to face increasing disruptions.
Our data also shows that climate impacts are degrading the continuity of learning. Shelter-in-place events due to wildfires, relocation to another campus due to flash flood risk, and athletic schedule changes due to the heat are just some of the ways that learning can be compromised even when class remains in session.
To learn more about how extreme weather contributes to school closures and lost learning time, visit our national map and California dashboard.
To explore climate action solutions for California’s K-12 schools, check out CCEE’s Climate Resilient Toolkit for district leaders.
