UPDATED: Possible Seismic Safety Issues with Three Rohnert Park-Cotati Schools

A report published today by California Watch – the state’s largest investigative reporting team – discovered potentially significant earthquake safety code violations within California schools and the state’s failure to hold schools accountable by not fully enforcing seismic safety regulations.

The 19-month investigation uncovered possible holes in three public schools' safety regulations within the .

Rohnert Park's oldest neighborhood has two schools — and — with potential seismic safety violations or missing certification that the work was completed. Thomas Page Elementary in Cotati, is also listed in the California Watch report. The California Watch map shows where the schools are in relation to the Rodgers Creek Fault —about 1.25 miles to the east of Rohnert Park.

“Towns like Petaluma and Rohnert Park, which are really very, very close to the fault, are going to suffer a lot of damage,” said David P. Schwartz, an earthquake scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a co-chair of the Bay Area Earthquake Alliance. “When we have that large earthquake, we’re going to see a certain amount of liquefaction damage, lateral spreading, it’s just inevitable."

The report states the three elementary schools were tallied by the state decades ago under regulation from Assembly Bill 300, and and may still have unresolved structural or paperwork certification issues, a designation called Letter 4 — indicating that a possible structural or health safety issue existed at one time at the school.

Rohnert Park Patch reached Wade Roach for comment Friday afternoon, after repeated calls to facilities management for comment. Roach is the district's chief financial officer. 

When asked, Roach did not say there were no seismic safety issues at the schools.

But, he said all three schools have undergone what he called "modernization" since they were built in the late '70s — Waldo Rohnert for $3.8 million, John Reed for $3.2 million and Thomas Page for $2.2 million. The money went for improved classrooms, changes in building codes and to improve school infrastructure, according to Roach.

"I'm definitely not concerned any of our schools are unsafe," Roach said. "This is probably due to incomplete paperwork, but we'll continue to investigate and work with [the Division of State Architects], if they want us to do something."

"But where's that money going to come from?" he said. 

Roach said the district does not have the money to pay for a structural engineer to come out and do an assessment, or to do any testing that might be necessary to find any earthquake danger issues.

"We don't have a structural engineer on staff, so we'd have to hire someone to do that, and it would have to come from the direction of the DSA," he added.

California Watch also identifies schools that are in dangerous fault zones, liquefaction zones and landslide zones. Although the report stated that area schools are not in immediate danger from proximity to the fault, a deeper investigation by Rohnert Park Patch shows the data may not be that simple. Check back with Patch next week for more details on that.

Assembly Bill 300 was passed in 1999 requiring the state to compile a seismic safety inventory of California’s K-12 school buildings. If the state deems schools might possibly be unsafe in the event of an earthquake, it will send an AB 300 letter to the school district.

While ending up on the AB 300 list of potentially seismically risky schools can indicate dangerous safety issues, it can also signify a simple lapse in certification paperwork, even if safety upgrades have already been made.

Letter 4 designation indicates that at some point during construction of this particular item at the school, an inspector, field engineer or other on site identified a possible structural deficiency or health safety issue. The issue may have been resolved but the proper documentation may not have been submitted to show the issue was resolved. 

According to California Watch, state architects compiled a list of nearly 20,000 school projects that are uncertified – and about 1,000 of the schools on that list were at some point given Letter 4 warnings.

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. 

"None of our schools are in violation of the Field Act," Roach said. 

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. 

The entire California Watch special report can be found here.

California Watch’s interactive map gives an overview of the potential seismic issues in Rohnert Park and Cotati schools, and all California schools.

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 collaboration with California Watch.