By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/gnY6f3
02/28/2011 10:29:00 PM PST - Layoffs at Los Angeles Unified have left the district without state-mandated inspectors at dozens of school construction sites, potentially compromising the safety of children, the Daily News has learned.
Regulators have been warning the district for more than two months that California law requires a state-certified inspector to be assigned to every construction site, in order to ensure compliance with building and safety codes.
The Division of State Architect has the authority to shut down construction or withhold certification unless an inspector is present to oversee the work.
Without an inspector responsible for every construction site, experts say, there's no assurance that adequate precautions are being taken to guarantee the safety of students during school hours.
"Continuous inspection on projects by approved Division of the State Architect-certified inspectors is a vital part of the school construction program and, as such, the Division of the State Architect takes it very seriously," says a letter sent in January to the district.
"Lack of adequate inspections in violation of the statutes and regulations will result in DSA not being able to certify the construction on these projects."
Full-time inspection of these projects was lost in December, when the district laid off 37 of its 112 state-certified inspectors as a cost-cutting measure.
District officials made the cuts based on a forecast drafted in June 2009, which said they expected to have 157 construction projects under way by February 2011. At the time, they believed the 75 remaining state-certified inspectors would be sufficient to handle the workload.
However, the district is working on 443 construction projects - everything from updated fire-alarm systems to new campuses.
A Feb. 15 letter from LAUSD to the State Architect notes that 24 projects have not yet broken ground, 173 are nearing completion, and 246 are well under way.
Under this schedule, the district said, each inspector will be handling about two projects. The letter fails to note that 58 of those inspectors are not state certified.
"LAUSD is aggressively managing a staffing plan with existing resources that maintains a qualified inspector on each and every active DSA construction project where and when required," said the letter from Chief Facilities Executive James Sohn.
Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he takes the issue of school construction standards seriously and added that staffers have assured him the district is complying with the law.
"I think we need adequate inspection, but the district doesn't need to make work for people either," he said "If we're not following the guidelines, then the state has the responsibility to let me know."
School board member Yolie Flores said she, too, has been told the district is in compliance with regulations.
"If I have not been given accurate information - and my colleagues on the board and I are liable for this - that is a problem for me," she said. "And it's a bigger problem for me because this is part of assuring safety for our kids."
LAUSD facilities officials said they have begun working to realign the inspection staff to meet state requirements.
"We are working on spreading our staff out and getting all of them (construction projects) covered," said Neil Gamble, the deputy chief facilities executive.
"The way we approached inspection in the past is not a model we can continue to use. We need to be more cost effective on the way we cover our projects," Gamble added.
The State Architect is trying to work with the district to rectify the inspector issue, said Gretchen Zeagler, a spokeswoman for DSA. However, if no resolution is reached, the district could be forced to stop construction at sites without inspectors.
LAUSD inspectors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concern for their jobs, say the current staffing plan is making it impossible for them to fulfill their state-mandated duties.
"Safety and quality are being compromised, and so is the district's accountability to the taxpayer," one inspector said. "If you don't have anyone minding the work, how do you know that you got what you paid for?"
Another inspector said he was recently assigned to visit a campus where contractors working on a renovation project were releasing toxic dust as they cut cement slabs during school hours.
"The contractors had respirators, and the kids were just running around," the inspector said.
A third inspector said he made an unofficial visit to a building site and found that students headed for the cafeteria had to be escorted on a detour that took them off campus in order to avoid the construction.
Inspectors have raised their concerns to Cortines, the school board, and the district's Inspector General.
"The remedy for this situation does NOT have to include an increase in staff," one inspector wrote in an e-mail. "To be crystal clear, this is NOT a labor issue but an issue critical to ensure the safety at existing occupied school sites.
"Simply put, don't let any contracts for construction without the ability to adequately inspect the projects ... This is a crisis of safety," the e-mail said.
State Education Code requires that districts "provide continuous, adequate and competent inspection" of all school building or renovation projects in order to receive certification.
Without certification, the school district and the school board assumes liability for construction-related malfunctions or accidents, the law says.
The school district also may have to repay state matching funds, which are provided only to certified projects.
The inspection requirement is part of the Field Act, passed by the Legislature after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed 70 schools and damaged some 400 others.
The Field Act's intent was to create a higher building standard for schools to ensure the safety of children and the longevity of these public structures, which are often used as shelters during natural emergencies.
State officials said no other large district has had any problem adhering to the rule, even during tough financial times.
Experts said cost estimates for state-approved building projects should include funding to cover certified inspections.
Since 1997, LAUSD has been engaged in the largest school construction program in the nation - funded with $20 billion from four voter-approved bonds. The district has completed thousands of projects, including 81 new schools, and hundreds of renovations.
The district expects to receive an additional $7 billion from a fifth bond, which will be used to upgrade and modernize aging campuses beginning in 2016.
District officials have largely classified the building program as a huge success, but the consequences of violating building codes have already been experienced by LAUSD.
In 2007, the district was forced to pay $10.3 million to the family of a first-grader who was hit by a van and killed in the parking lot of Lanai Elementary School in Encino. The jury found that the parking lot had not been built according to state-approved designs.
"That project never had inspection from our department," a long-time inspection supervisor said.
Ray LePage, a retired LAUSD construction inspector, explained that overseeing a school project is not like inspecting a residential or commercial project.
"It requires much higher standards," LePage said. "Schools have to be standing when everything else fails."
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