This California town was ravaged by a wildfire. Seven years later, schools are still recovering

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Nearly seven years after Paradise was ravaged by wildfire , the foothill town smells like pine trees again. New homes are sprouting up on once-scorched lots. Construction trucks rumble through neighborhoods. An ice cream shop recently opened around the corner from the newly rebuilt high school.

But in the town’s classrooms, recovery has been more complicated — and much slower. Even as Paradise gradually rebuilds schools lost to California’s 2018 Camp Fire, officials have found getting kids on track academically — and recreating a tight-knit, thriving school community — is a lot tougher than just flipping on the lights at a new campus.

“We’ll get there, but we have not yet recovered,” said Superintendent Tom Taylor before he retired in May. “We’re not yet where we