Calabasas Schools Meet All State Earthquake Safety Standards, Superintendent Says

Following a series of structural upgrades completed earlier this year, all schools in the  now meet state earthquake safety standards, according to Superintendent Donald Zimring. 

Agoura Hills Patch asked Zimring to comment on the findings of an investigative report released Thursday by the journalism watchdog group California Watch, which 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 reports.

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. These schools were placed on a list known as AB 300.

Five schools in Calabasas, , , and were placed on that list.

In addition, A.C. Stelle and Round Meadow are within a quarter-mile of a landslide zone, according to California Watch. A.E Wright, Calabasas High and Lupin Hill are a quarter-mile from landslide zones and liquefaction zones, an area where soil has lost its strength and begins to behave more like a liquid than a solid, according to California Watch.

But Zimring said the proper construction work to improve building safety was done at all of the schools.

When asked specifically about Calabasas High and Lupin Hill, he said inspectors from the Division of the State Architect inspected the renovations and approved them.

"We have no concerns," Zimring said.

According to Zimring, all of the appropriate paperwork was filed but was lost in a "mire of backed up files" at the state level.

"I can most assuredly say that all of our schools meet all state earthquake regulations and are extraordinarily sound, " Zimring said.

A project tracker on the state's Department of General Services  website lists pending and completed construction work at schools dating back to Nov. 12, 1997.

However, according to data provided by California Watch, school renovations in Calabasas took place before that date so those projects, along with their details and history, are not listed on the project tracker.

Zimring said Calabasas schools and others throughout Las Virgenes Unified have already proved their sturdiness after surviving the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake in 1994.

"There was virtually no damage at any school anywhere in the district," Zimring said. "We had some minor repair done at Lupin Hill, but that was it."

He went on to add that the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up relief efforts at Calabasas High shortly after the Northridge tremor struck.

"Schools are safe places for disasters, that's why they're designated disaster centers," Zimring said.