Four Pinole Schools Sit Near Earthquake Fault

A statewide inventory of school buildings that haven't received final approval for safety includes only one structure in Pinole: a $65,000 portable at l. could begin as soon as March 2013. But an interactive map compiled by California Watch shows that four Pinole schools rest within a quarter-mile of a fault line. Those schools are , and elementary schools and the Pinole Valley high school.

A state government survey of California's school buildings raised red flags on thousands of buildings across California.  Those buildings appear on a 2008 list compiled by the California Division of the State Architect, which oversees school construction, remodels and retrofits for seismic and other safety conditions.

While the state did not inspect the buildings, it notified school districts to conduct evaluations to determine if retrofitting or other corrections should  be made. The buildings were placed on the list mostly because of how they had been constructed. Non-wood framed structures such as certain types of concrete ones, generally don't fare as well during earthquakes because they are less flexible.

Inclusion on the  list doesn't necessarily mean that a building hasn't had modifications to bring them up to current codes. It could mean that a given school district simply has not provided documentation of that work to the arthitect's office or that fees have not been paid.

School districts are required to provide documentation that certain defects or hazards have been corrected before specific buildings can be removed from the list. The West Contra Costa School District has not gotten that approval for the high school portable.

No schools in neighboring Hercules sit as close to a fault as the four Pinole schools, and the only one uncertified project is an LED message sign at Hercules MIddle/High School. El Cerrito has three uncertified projects and one school, Madera Elementary, is near a fault.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District has embarked on a years-long initiative to replace aging schools. Recently rebuilt high schools include Richmond, DeAnza and El Cerrito. Voter-approved bonds are paying for them, including the Pinole high school project.

The state archcitect's office notified schools with its inventory of buildings in 2008.

The Pinole Valley High School campus could see the reconstruction project begin as early as March 2013. The  new campus is scheduled to be completed three years later. The school predates 1976 state legislation that imposed stricter building codes for schools to make them safe in a major earthquake.

A 19-month California Watch 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.

Partnering with California Watch, Patch will run a series of stories on sites across the state to shed light on the issue of seismic safety in public 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.