Schools

LCUSD Official Addresses Schools on State's Seismic Safety List

Assistant Superintendent Mike Leininger discusses district's buildings on AB 300 list, and says he's investigating whether potential problems have been addressed or whether the state's list should be updated.

Nearly two weeks after Patch reported on a governmental watchdog organization's investigation on the seismic vulnerability of schools, an administrator for the La Cañada Unified School District said he wants a clear explanation of why La Cañada buildings are on the list of potentially troubled projects and what LCUSD has to do to get them removed.

According to a document Leininger passed out to the board Tuesday, which was not readily available to the public alongside the agenda and other public documents, , and all have buildings categorized by the Department of General Services as "requiring detailed seismic evaluation.''

However, a 1,448-page list updated March 30, 2011, posted on the Department of General Services' website, and uploaded to this story, shows only buildings at La Cañada High to require detailed seismic evaluation.

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The district is investigating which buildings could be problematic and whether the list should be updated, Assistant Superintendent Mike Leininger told the board Tuesday.

The list, known as AB 300, as April 7 using preliminary data, is named for the 1999 law that required the state’s Department of General Services to conduct an inventory of public school buildings that are concrete, with non-wood frame walls that don’t meet the minimum requirements of the 1976 Uniform Building Code.

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“At PCR we have upgraded four buildings with new supports as part of a seismic retrofit [years ago],’’ Leininger said.

“If it’s the concrete retaining wall that puts it on the list, that doesn’t mean that it’s not safe, it means it’s concrete and built prior to 1978,’’ he added.

Leininger said he has calls into the Division of the State Architect, the chief regulator of construction standards for public schools to suss out whether the LCUSD buildings are on the list because there is an actual safety issue, or whether it's because of their construction materials. If there is not an impending safety issue, Leininger said, he would like to know how to have the list reflect that fact.

California Watch, a nonprofit investigative reporting team, widely published the state’s list of AB 300 buildings earlier this month following a 19-month investigation into seismic safety. In the event of a major earthquake, these schools, if their varying issues remain unresolved, may not fare well, according to the data.

The schools fall into two categories of risk, as determined by the DSA: AB 300 projects, or older school buildings with potentially dangerous seismic hazards that require more detailed evaluation, and Letter 4, or those uncertified projects whose safety-related deficiencies violate the Field Act–a nearly 80-year-old law that requires careful design and inspected construction for public K-12 schools.

California Watch's investigation, which was released April 7, uncovered holes in the state's enforcement of seismic safety regulations for public schools. California began regulating school architecture for seismic safety in 1933 with the Field Act, but data taken from the DSA shows 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.

“I want to make sure the watch group came up with a compete list and [find out] what we need to do next,’’ Leininger told the school board Tuesday.

Gretchen Zeagler, a spokeswoman for the Department of General Services, pointed out, "This is very complex subject matter to digest.''

During a recent phone call Zeagler said that her most current list shows only LCHS as having AB 300 buildings. And just because the buildings appear on the list, it does not mean that they are unsafe.

“What the DGS was saying [in its 2002 report to the legislature] was please go out and have a seismic evaluation for these buildings, but it is up to the district to do so. We are not mandating they do anything,’’ she explained.

During Tuesday night’s school board meeting though, Leininger said he wants to make sure all district buildings are properly evaluated.

One of LCHS’s buildings on the AB 300 list, Leininger said, is the Field Snack Bar, which is 300 square feet and doesn’t house students. It appears the district did not complete the paperwork for this building, which they deemed unnecessary to take through the entire evaluation process, because of its size and lack of housing students.

“We may choose to do that now as we move forward,’’ he said.

Leininger presented his information to the board to gauge whether they would want him to do what he’s already begun doing: investigate further.

And just to cement the board’s stance, member Scott Tracy said, “Go do it.’’

 


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