Politics & Government

Audit Reveals 'Oversight' in School Quake Safety

The Division of the State Architect has limited authority to penalize districts that don't comply with safety laws, according to a state report.

Editor's Note: This article is a follow-up to a series of stories published in April, when Patch partnered with to report on earthquake safety in California public schools.

Local school officials in April said there was "no guarantee" students and staff were entirely safe in district buildings, and according to a recent California State Auditor’s report, some officials across the state have failed to ensure the seismic safety of school buildings.

The Dec. 8 report found that the Division of the State Architect has limited authority to penalize school districts that don't comply with the Field Act, which requires that K-12 public school buildings be evaluated for quake safety, according to California Watch, a group of journalists focused on investigative reporting in the state.

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"The [Division of the State Architect] inconsistently used its authority to order districts to stop work on projects after identifying a potential threat to public safety," according to the report. "The division did not effectively document its determinations about the risk level of uncertified projects or to use these determinations to guide its approach to following up on those projects."

The report was called for after a California Watch investigation found the state had allowed children and teachers to occupy buildings that were reported during construction to have possible safety hazards.

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Palos Verdes Patch investigated the local in April and found that without funds to evaluate possible structural deficiencies, .

“We’re trying to, at this point, survive … to provide education for the kids,” Pearl Iizuka, the district's deputy superintendent of business services said in April. “Anything beyond that … is impossible for us to even look at.”

In , Iizuka said that determination of school safety had been halted by the district’s limited resources, with an evaluation price tag anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000.

“We just don’t have the funding to be able to do that,” she said. “[We] haven’t been able to verify that concern truly exists. … The seriousness of it hasn’t been verified.”

Auditors found about 23 percent of school construction projects completed during the last three fiscal years remain uncertified under the Field Act.

Included in the report's recommendations for the Legislature to consider are penalties for school districts that fail to provide required documents for ensuring safety.

At the end of the report, it's noted that the state Department of General Services agreed with the recommendations and outlined steps the Division of the State Architect will take to implement them.

Just days before the Auditor's report was released, Gov. Jerry Brown had appointed Chester Widom as the new State Architect.

"I look forward to working closely with my staff at the Division of the State Architect, the Department of General Services, the legislature and other local leaders to make our state even more innovative, sustainable and efficient," Widom said in a statement last week. "We face many challenges, but my immediate priority is to carefully scrutinize and streamline the State Architect’s operations."

Read more about seismic school safety on Palos Verdes Patch:

Hermosa Beach Patch Editor Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.


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