AB 1783, as introduced, Dodd. School facilities: nonstructural earthquake hazards: annual assessment.
Existing law, the Field Act, generally requires the Department of General Services to supervise the design and construction of, the reconstruction or alteration of, or the addition to, a school building to ensure, among other things, that plans and specifications comply with adopted rules and regulations and building standards, including those relating to seismic safety. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, the Department of General Services, and the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, to develop an educational pamphlet for use by school personnel to identify and mitigate the risks posed by nonstructural earthquake hazards.
This bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, on or before January 1, 2018, to develop a plan for the annual inspection of the contents in each of its school buildings for purposes to assess whether the contents comply with the guidelines set forth in the pamphlet, to identify school building contents that do not comply with the guidelines, and to develop corrective actions to bring noncompliant content into compliance. The bill would require, among other things, that the plan be developed in consultation with specified persons, that it designate the responsible person or persons who will perform the assessment and develop the corrective action plans for noncompliant contents, and that it include a cost estimate for the annual assessment. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school to complete its initial annual assessment on or before January 1, 2019, and to complete each subsequent annual assessment on or before January 1 of each year thereafter. The bill would require, within 60 days of completing an assessment for each school building, a checklist of compliant and noncompliant contents to be presented to the governing board of the school district, the county board of education, or the governing body of the charter school, as applicable, with a set of recommenced corrective actions to bring all noncompliant contents into compliance with the published guidelines and a recommended schedule to implement the corrective actions, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local educational agency officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Following significant damage to school buildings in the 1933
4Long Beach earthquake, the Field Act was enacted to mandate the
5earthquake-resistant construction of schools.
6(b) The Division of the State Architect (DSA) reviews the
7design, construction, alteration, addition, and rehabilitation of
8K-12 public schools and community colleges.
9(c) The DSA also monitors the safety of nonstructural
10components installed in school facilities.
P3 1(d) Implementation of the Field Act, as defined
pursuant to
2Section 17281 of the Education Code, is a complex
3interrelationship with dispersed responsibilities between state
4departments and agencies, school districts, local government
5building departments, educational institutions, and the construction
6industry.
7(e) The South Napa earthquake struck in the early morning on
8August 24, 2014. Structural damage to schools was minimal.
9However, nonstructural damage was significant and could have
10been life threatening had the earthquake occurred during school
11hours.
12(f) The earthquake highlighted dangers posed by light fixtures,
13unrestrained bookcases, storage units, furniture, and other similar
14school contents that are not subject to the Field Act’s requirements.
15(g) The DSA has issued guidelines for nonstructural earthquake
16hazards in California schools, which include
furniture and
17equipment. However, there are no requirements in state law similar
18to the requirements of the Field Act that require the DSA, local
19fire agencies, or school districts to inspect schools to ensure that
20school contents comply with the DSA nonstructural component
21guidelines.
22(h) School classrooms should be examined on an annual basis
23to ensure that furnishings and equipment are properly located,
24anchored and braced to prevent harm to pupils and school
25personnel, and to ensure egress from any room after an earthquake.
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 17660) is added
27to Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
28
(a) By no later than January 1, 2018, each school
32district, county office of education, and charter school shall develop
33a plan for the annual inspection of the contents, as described in
34Section 17762, in each of its school buildings.
35(b) The purpose of the plan shall be to assess whether the
36contents comply with the guidelines set forth in Chapter 3
37(Furniture and Equipment) of the “Guide and Checklist for
38Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in California Schools,” the
39educational pamphlet published by the Office of Emergency
40Services, in cooperation with the State Department of Education,
P4 1the Department of General Services, and the Alfred E. Alquist
2Seismic Safety Commission pursuant to Section 8587.7 of the
3Government Code, to identify school
building contents that do not
4comply with the guidelines, and to develop corrective actions to
5bring noncompliant content into compliance.
6(c) The plan shall be developed in consultation with a California
7licensed civil or structural engineer or a California licensed
8architect, a representative of the local fire service agency of each
9school building, a school administrator or school business official,
10a classroom teacher, and a representative of classified school
11employees.
12(d) The plan shall designate the responsible person or persons
13in the school district, county office of education, or charter school,
14as applicable, who will perform the assessment and develop the
15corrective action plans for noncompliant contents. The plan shall
16also identify all school buildings that are to be assessed and the
17order of assessment.
18(e) The plan shall include a cost estimate for the annual
19assessment.
20(f) The plan shall be presented to the governing board of the
21school district, the county board of education, or the governing
22body of the charter school, as applicable, at a public meeting held
23pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing
24with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
25Government Code), or, in the case of a statewide charter school,
26the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with
27Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
28the Government Code).
(a) Each school district, county office of education,
30and charter school shall complete its initial annual assessment
31pursuant to the plan developed pursuant to Section 17660 on or
32before January 1, 2019, and shall complete each subsequent annual
33assessment on or before January 1 of each year thereafter.
34(b) The person or persons designated pursuant to subdivision
35(d) of Section 17660 shall, at minimum, complete the checklist
36published in the “Guide and Checklist for Nonstructural Earthquake
37Hazards in California Schools,” identifying all compliant and
38noncompliant contents found pursuit to the checklist.
39(c) (1) Within 60 days of completing an assessment for
each
40school building, the checklist of compliant and noncompliant
P5 1contents shall be presented to the governing board of the school
2district, the county board of education, or the governing body of
3the charter school, as applicable, with a set of recommended
4corrective actions to bring all noncompliant contents into
5compliance with the published guidelines and a recommended
6schedule to implement the corrective actions.
7(2) The governing board of the school district, the county board
8of education, or the governing body of the charter school, as
9applicable, shall review and approve the recommended corrective
10actions in a public meeting held pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown
11Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of
12Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code), or, in the case of
13a statewide charter school, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act
14(Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part
151 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code), and shall post
16each assessment and the recommended approved actions on its
17Internet Web site.
18(d) (1) Upon completion of all of the recommended corrective
19actions for noncompliant contents in each school building in the
20school district, the county office of education, or charter school,
21the superintendent of the school district, the county superintendent
22of schools, or the chief administrator of the charter school, as
23applicable, shall certify in writing to the governing board of the
24school district, the county board of education, or the governing
25body of the charter school, as applicable, and the local fire service
26agency consulted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 17760,
27the State Department of Education, and the Division of the State
28Architect that all corrective actions have been completed.
29(2) The certifications for each school
building shall be posted
30to the school district’s, county office of education’s, or charter
31school’s Internet Web site, as applicable.
For purposes of this chapter, “contents” includes, but
33is not limited to, file cabinets, bookcases, desktop and countertop
34equipment, equipment on carts, display cases, art objects, potted
35plants, aquariums, equipment on wheels or rollers, such as pianos
36and chalkboards, office equipment, refrigerators, vending machines,
37shop and gym equipment, gas cylinders, gas piping, storage racks,
38electrical equipment, mechanical equipment, plumbing equipment,
39and kitchen equipment.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
2this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
3local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
4pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
54 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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