Report Highlights Possible Seismic Issues with Sonoma, Statewide 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 two public schools' safety regulations within the .

Two Sonoma schools — and — were identified as having potential seismic safety violations or missing certification that the retrofitting work work was completed. The California Watch map shows where the schools are in relation to U.S. Geological Survey fault lines.

The report states the two 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.

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.

The report has not been reviewed by local schools, and the district has not yet returned calls for comment. Stay tuned to Sonoma Patch for a follow up.

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. 

The entire California Watch special report can be found here.

California Watch’s interactive map gives an overview of the potential seismic issues in Sonoma 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.