Investigation Finds Lax Enforcement of Seismic Safety Law for Public Schools

An investigation by California Watch into enforcement of seismic safety standards for California public schools has found significant lapses around the state, though no evident safety hazards were uncovered in El Cerrito or Kensington schools.

The 19-month examination by California Watch, an arm of the Berkeley-based Center for Investigative Reporting, was released Thursday evening.

California began regulating school architecture for seismic safety in 1933 with the Field Act, but data taken from the Division of the State Architect’s Office shows nearly 20,000 school projects statewide never got final safety certifications. In the crunch to get schools built within the last few decades, state architects have been lax on enforcement, California Watch reported. 

Among the school construction projects that were never certified are the extensive renovations of and . Several  final inspection reports were not submitted for each project, and the agency responsible for certifying the projects, the Division of the State Architect, did not certify the projects as meeting the required safety standards.

However, a spokesman for the state architect told Patch this week that state inspectors are not worried about such schools that are issued a "Letter 3" notice about not being certified.

Inspectors are continually present during construction so that there are "eyes on a school construction project at all times," said Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the state architect. In addition, the state architect's office has approved the construction plans and reviewed interim construction reports, he said.

"We don't believe there are any significant safety issues with any of the Letter 3 projects," Lamoureux said.

It is the responsibility of the local school district to submit all the final reports, and it is also up to the district to determine whether an uncertified school is safe to be occupied, Lamoureaux said.

The decision to put students in uncertified schools is done in consultation with the building professionals who worked on the project and is not taken lightly since district officials and school board members are "personally liable" for placing students in any unsafe buildings, he said. El Cerrito schools are administered by the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

The proposed plans for both the Harding and Madera renovation projects were submitted to the state architect in 2003, and both received the their Letter 3 non-certification notices in 2008.

The Harding renovation was missing nine final inspection reports, and Madera was missing six. Among the final reports missing at both schools were those for Engineered Fill, Glu-laminated Beams, High Strength Bolt Installation and Field Welding.

Several buildings at the former were identified in a separate inventory completed nine years ago that found 7,500 school buildings in the state that posed potential life-safety hazards in need of evaluation. California Watch reported that only two schools from the list have been able to access a $200 million fund for upgrades. 

El Cerrito's old high school was replaced by a new one completed in January 2009. Interestingly, the old , which has been abandoned as being an irremediable seismic hazard, was not identified in the survey.

See Pinole Patch and Hercules Patch for reports on West Contra Costa Unified schools in those cities.

As part of its investigative series, California Watch has published an interactive map on seismic dangers near California public schools and "Act and React" webpage with information on earthquakes, preparedness and resources for getting involved. It also has an interactive timeline showing on the project's development and an interactive map showing a history of California earthquakes.

Here are other supplemental articles on the California Watch project:

California Watch Investigates Seismic Safety of Public K-12 Schools

Collaborative Journalism Brings Investigative Reporting to Your Town

This story was produced using data provided to Patch by California Watch, the state's largest investigative reporting team and part of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Read more about Patch's partnership with California Watch.