Local Elementary and High Schools May Be Unsafe in an Earthquake

Seven elementary schools and two high schools in the Montrose and La Crescenta area have unresolved seismic safety issues, making them vulnerable to damage and worse in the event of a major earthquake, according to data provided by the state of California.

The findings, as reported in an investigative series by California Watch, show that , , , , , and elementary schools, along with and , have "potentially dangerous seismic hazards that require more detailed evaluation," according to data compiled in 2002 by the California Division of the State Architect (DSA).

The local schools are only part of the thousands of California school buildings that were considered unlikely to perform well in earthquakes and needed to be evaluated by structural engineers, according to records obtained by California Watch, a nonprofit journalism enterprise that is partnering with Patch in a larger probe of the state's seismic safety. California Watch's 19-month investigation, which was released Thursday, 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 Division of the State Architect’s Office 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. 

A separate inventory completed nine years ago found 7,500 seismically risky school buildings in the state. Yet, California Watch reports that only two schools have been able to access a $200 million fund for upgrades.

Because of incomplete record-keeping by the state and local school districts, confusion persists about whether some of the issues at buildings identified in 2002 have since been resolved, even though they remain listed as potentially problematic.

Since 2002, the Division of the State Architect has been working to create a database to track schools' compliance (or lack thereof) with the Field Act, which requires careful design and inspections of construction for all public K-12 schools in California.

Following the Long Beach earthquake in that same year, officials wanted to make sure buildings had adequate earthquake protections.

In our area, Crescenta Valley High School was shown to have at least three unresolved projects and was also designated a "Letter 4" school, meaning that it is not supposed to house students unless the unresolved issues have been addressed; it is unclear whether they have been dealt with since 2002.

California Watch reports that Letter 4 "uncertified projects" are the "most serious designation by the State Architect's office for school construction projects with safety-related deficiencies under the Field Act." View California Watch's interactive map here.

In an effort to obtain the most up-to-date information possible, Patch contacted James Fenton, the Facility and Support Administrator of the Glendale Unified School District, and Dr. Mark Brown, the GUSD Administrator on Special Assignment, to discuss the findings, but they have yet to comment or produce documents showing that the problems had been addressed.

Patch will follow up with district officials and also look harder into the specific projects and buildings that may have unresolved earthquake safety issues, and we'll be updating our coverage soon.

To access an interactive map showing school seismic safety issues in Montrose and La Crescenta, click here.

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 with California Watch.