Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1783

Introduced by Assembly Member Dodd

(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)

February 4, 2016

An act to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 17660) to Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to school facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1783, as amended, Dodd. School facilities: nonstructural earthquake hazards: begin delete annual end delete 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 begin delete annual end delete inspection of the contents in each of its school buildings begin delete for purposes end delete 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 begin delete content end delete begin insert contents end insert 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 begin delete annual end delete assessment. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school to complete begin delete its initial annual end delete begin insert the end insert assessment on or before January 1, begin delete 2019, and to complete each subsequent annual assessment on or before January 1 of each year thereafter. end delete begin insert 2020. end insert The bill would require, within 60 days of completing an assessment for each school building, begin insert that end insert a checklist of compliant and noncompliant contents begin delete to be presented end delete begin insert be reported end insert to the governing board of the school district, the county board of education, or the governing body of the charter school, as applicable, with begin insert a prioritization of noncompliant items that threaten the safety of pupils and school personnel and end insert a set of begin delete recommenced end delete begin insert recommended end insert corrective actions to bring begin delete all end delete begin insert high end insert begin insert -priority end insert noncompliant contents into compliance with the published begin delete guidelines and a recommended schedule to implement the corrective actions, as specified. end delete begin insert guidelines. end insert 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:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Following significant damage to school buildings in the 1933
Long Beach earthquake, the Field Act was enacted to mandate the
earthquake-resistant construction of schools.

(b) The Division of the State Architect (DSA) reviews the
design, construction, alteration, addition, and rehabilitation of
K-12 public schools and community colleges.

(c) The DSA also monitors the safety of nonstructural
components installed in school facilities.

(d) Implementation of the Field Act, as defined pursuant to
Section 17281 of the Education Code, begin delete is end delete begin insert depends upon end insert a complex
interrelationship with dispersed responsibilities begin delete between end delete begin insert among end insert
state departments and agencies, school districts, local government
building departments, educational institutions, and the construction
industry.

(e) The South Napa earthquake struck in the early morning on
August 24, 2014. Structural damage to schools was minimal.
However, nonstructural damage was significant and could have
been life threatening had the earthquake occurred during school
hours.

(f) The earthquake highlighted dangers posed by light fixtures,
unrestrained bookcases, storage units, furniture, and other similar
school contents that are not subject to the Field Act’s requirements.

(g) The DSA has issued guidelines for nonstructural earthquake
hazards in California schools, which include furniture and
equipment. However, there are no requirements in state law similar
to the requirements of the Field Act that require the DSA, local
fire agencies, or school districts to inspect schools to ensure that
school contents comply with the DSA nonstructural component
guidelines.

(h) School classrooms should be examined begin delete on an annual basis end delete
to ensure that furnishings and equipment are properly located,
anchored and braced to prevent harm to pupils and school
personnel, and to ensure egress from any room after an earthquake.

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 17660) is added
to Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:

 

Chapter  8. Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards

 

17660.  

(a) By no later than January 1, 2018, each school
district, county office of education, and charter school shall develop
a plan for the begin delete annual end delete inspection of the contents, as described in
Section begin delete 17762, end delete begin insert 17662, end insert in each of its school buildings.

(b) The purpose of the plan shall be to assess whether the
contents comply with the guidelines set forth in Chapter 3
(Furniture and Equipment) of the “Guide and Checklist for
Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in California Schools,” the
educational pamphlet published by 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 pursuant to Section 8587.7 of the
Government Code, to identify school building contents that do not
comply with the guidelines, and to develop corrective actions to
bring noncompliant begin delete content end delete begin insert contents end insert into compliance.

(c) The plan shall be developed in consultation with a California
licensed civil or structural engineer or a California licensed
architect, a representative of the local fire service agency of each
school building, a school administrator or school business official,
a classroom teacher, and a representative of classified school
employees.

(d) The plan shall designate the responsible person or persons
in the school district, county office of education, or charter school,
as applicable, who will perform the assessment and develop the
corrective action plans for noncompliant contents. The plan shall
also identify all school buildings that are to be assessed and the
order of assessment.

(e) The plan shall include a cost estimate for the begin delete annual end delete
assessment.

(f) The plan shall 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, at a public meeting held
pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing
with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
Government Code), or, in the case of a statewide charter school,
the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with
Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code).

17661.  

(a) Each school district, county office of education,
and charter school shall complete begin delete its initial annual end delete begin insert an end insert assessment
pursuant to the plan developed pursuant to Section 17660 on or
before January 1, begin delete 2019, and shall complete each subsequent annual
assessment on or before January 1 of each year thereafter. end delete begin insert 2020. end insert

(b) The person or persons designated pursuant to subdivision
(d) of Section 17660 shall, at minimum, complete the checklist
published in the “Guide and Checklist for Nonstructural Earthquake
Hazards in California begin delete Schools,” identifying end delete begin insert Schools” to identify end insert
all compliant and noncompliant contents found begin delete pursuit end delete begin insert pursuant end insert
to the checklist.

(c) (1) Within 60 days of completing an assessment for each
school building, the checklist of compliant and noncompliant
contents shall be begin delete presented end delete begin insert reported end insert to the governing board of the
school district, the county board of education, or the governing
body of the charter school, as begin delete applicable, with end delete begin insert applicable. The
report shall include a prioritization of noncompliant items that
present an immediate and serious threat to the safety of pupils and
school personnel and end insert a set of recommended corrective actions to
bring begin delete all end delete begin insert high-priority end insert noncompliant contents into compliance with
the published begin delete guidelines and a recommended schedule to
implement the corrective actions. end delete begin insert guidelines. end insert

(2) The governing board of the school district, the county board
of education, or the governing body of the charter school, as
applicable, shall review begin delete and approve the recommended corrective
actions end delete begin insert the report end insert in a public meeting held pursuant to the Ralph
M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of
Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code), or, in the
case of a statewide charter school, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and shall
post begin delete each assessment and the recommended approved actions end delete begin insert the
report end insert on its Internet Web site.

(d) (1)  begin delete Upon completion of all of the recommended end delete begin insert If end insert corrective
actions for noncompliant contents in each school building in the
school district, the county office of education, or charter begin delete school, end delete
begin insert school are completed, end insert the superintendent of the school district, the
county superintendent of schools, or the chief administrator of the
charter school, as applicable, shall certify in writing to the
governing board of the school district, the county board of
education, or the governing body of the charter school, as
applicable, begin delete and the local fire service agency consulted pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 17760, the State Department of
Education, and the Division of the State Architect that all end delete begin insert which end insert
corrective actions have been begin insert taken and end insert completed.

(2) The certifications for each school building shall be posted
to the school district’s, county office of education’s, or charter
school’s Internet Web site, as applicable.

17662.  

For purposes of this chapter, “contents” includes, but
is not limited to, file cabinets, bookcases, desktop and countertop
equipment, equipment on carts, display cases, art objects, potted
plants, aquariums, equipment on wheels or rollers, such as pianos
and chalkboards, office equipment, refrigerators, vending machines,
shop and gym equipment, gas cylinders, gas piping, storage racks,
electrical equipment, mechanical equipment, plumbing equipment,
and kitchen equipment.

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.