L.A. Schools Failing to Prepare for Quakes : Safety: Hazards have not been remedied despite district memo to principals.

Many Los Angeles schools have failed to take even the most elementary steps to make classrooms safer despite predictions that students and teachers could be seriously injured in their classrooms during the next big earthquake.

Drawing on lessons from the Northridge quake, Los Angeles Unified School District officials issued a bulletin two months ago requiring all principals to improve classroom safety by Oct. 14, using money from their school supply accounts.

But many principals say they have not even seen the memo and that they are reluctant to spend inadequate discretionary dollars on bolts and brackets.

Since the temblor rocked the city nine months ago, district officials have claimed repeatedly that schools remain the safest place for students during an earthquake or any other emergency. They boast that no school buildings collapsed--even in areas closest to the epicenter where apartments, houses, malls, even freeways were shaken apart.

But at the same time, these and other officials say the greatest threat to students and staff remains inside the schoolhouse doors. It was in the classrooms where bookcases toppled, and cabinets and closet doors came open, spilling their contents. Televisions and overhead projectors shattered, and chemicals and other science materials turned into hazardous spills.

But enter an elementary, middle or high school classroom today and the potential hazards remain. Most bookcases remain unbolted to walls; boxes are precariously stacked on high cabinets; televisions sit atop carts, unanchored; globes, fans and other large objects still stand on tables. Even chemicals remain unsecured in some science labs.

“The Northridge earthquake confirmed that non-structural hazards can be life-threatening in schools,” said Tom Tobin, the executive director of the state Seismic Safety Commission. “Falling (objects) from closets and cabinets can be a serious threat.”

To be sure, the damage inside the classrooms also was caused by light fixtures and ceiling tiles that crashed down atop desks and tables. But the district expects to correct those problems with federal funding, and schools are not being required to remedy lights and tiles on their own.

And some schools--mostly those campuses with active teachers and parent groups--have made earthquake safety a priority since the Jan. 17 quake. In those schools, teachers have removed potential hazards--such as the boxes balanced on bookcases--and they have secured tall storage closets.

But throughout the district, teachers, parents and administrators are questioning whether it is their responsibility--or the school district’s--to make classrooms safer. District officials, however, have decided it is up to the local schools.

“It’s not that big a deal to secure those things,” said Deputy Supt. Ruben Zacarias, who oversees the district’s earthquake safety committee. “It doesn’t take drills and hammers and making holes in the walls.”

Added Helen Fallon, who chairs the 10th District Parent Teacher Assn.’s earthquake preparedness committee: “It involves a lot of classroom reorganization--that’s all. We’re all told that the buildings won’t collapse--it’s what’s in those rooms and how it’s placed that’s the danger.”

There is no state law or regulatory agency that deals with non-structural classroom safety issues. Dennis Bellet, the principal structural engineer with the state architect’s office, said a guidebook was issued to alert school districts to potential problems in classrooms but that no one regulates or inspects the campuses.

“It falls on the local school districts to control that issue,” Bellet said. “We’re definitely learning how widespread these problems (in classrooms) are. It used to be a suspicion, but now it’s a reality.”

That reality can be seen at Cleveland High School in Reseda, for example. Trophies are located on shelves in the drama room, which was so littered with fallen light fixtures and objects that had tumbled from cabinets and shelves that, after the quake, the teacher said she could barely open the door.

“What still needs to be done? Everything,” said Ken Honowitz, the plant manager at Cleveland. “Every classroom needs bookcases bolted to the wall. The science room needs chemicals to be strapped down. Fish tanks need to be secured.”

Even at Sherman Oaks Elementary School, where parents purchased a cargo container and filled it with earthquake supplies, classrooms still are not completely risk free. In one room, a television sits unsecured on a glass cabinet. In another, an aquarium is on a cabinet, and bookcases are not bolted to the walls. A large fan rests on a cabinet and classrooms still have free-standing, four-drawer filing cabinets.

Principal Edward Krojansky, who said he did not recall receiving the memo about earthquake safety from the district, said the parents group at the school has been very active in preparing the campus for another major earthquake. But he said he would loathe using school materials money for earthquake supplies such as brackets and cables.

“We have limited funds as it is,” Krojansky said. “It’s just an infringement on instructional materials--that’s what it comes down to. They’re asking us to do things we don’t have the money to do--that’s like the Legislature passing a law with no funding.”

Susan Eden, a first- and second-grade teacher at the school and self-confessed pack rat, said she has tried to keep boxes on the floor and lock the storage cabinets. Her classroom is chock-full of materials and boxes.

“I’m a clutter person,” she said. “But since the earthquake, I’ve gotten rid of a lot of things. We talk about earthquake safety quite a bit. As a group, we’re working toward keeping things safe.”

Meanwhile, at Sutter Middle School in Canoga Park, Principal Carolyn Baker said she found the district memo only when told about it by a reporter. She said the school hasn’t done much to prepare for another quake.

“We have $27,000 in our instructional materials account--what school wants to use that money?” Baker said. “You want to buy computers, chalk, paper, pencils, everything.

“It (earthquake safety) does concern me,” Baker said. “But none of us has done very much about it.”

But district officials say the costs to remove at least some classroom hazards are minimal. Zacarias, the deputy superintendent who issued the memo, said the school system is seeking outside funding to reimburse schools but that even moving boxes could reduce the risks.

At Limerick Avenue Elementary in Canoga Park, Principal Ronni Ephraim said the school had an earthquake preparedness company survey the campus. “Just the office alone would cost $600,” Ephraim said.

Porter Middle School Principal Sherry Breskin said her Granada Hills campus is in the process of securing televisions, VCRs and computers. “Everything we had that could come down, came down,” Breskin said. “You never feel like you’re totally prepared, but we are more prepared than ever.”

Parents raised thousands of dollars for earthquake supplies, and Breskin said the entire school staff has been involved in improving campus safety. District officials say plant managers, who attended a training session two months ago on making schools safer, should be helping secure and anchor furniture and large objects.

“It’s not the teachers’ responsibility to be bolting bookcases,” said Francine Cantero, a science teacher at Portola Middle School in Tarzana and the teachers union representative. “But there are things teachers can do to make things a little safer. They certainly can’t invest any of their own money--we do that enough already.”

While the L.A. school district has not conducted a survey to determine how much actually needs to be done in classrooms, other districts have. Both the Burbank and Glendale school districts have compiled school-by-school surveys and are securing classroom furniture.

Board of Education members, who recently requested more information on the potential risks to students and teachers in classrooms, said they believe the local campuses should be vigilant on this issue.

“It is something that is so easily within our grasp to make sure materials are tied down, cabinets secured,” said Mark Slavkin, the board president.

Board member Julie Korenstein, who represents one of the hardest-hit areas of the district, agreed. “There are a lot of things that need to be done to make sure schools are safe and secure,” Korenstein said. “I don’t think people in any way choose not to make them safe; I think they are overwhelmed with all that they have to do.”

Parent groups also say they are concerned about the conditions of the city’s classrooms and that they need to be reassured that steps are being taken to secure the schools. Due to “stupid placement,” an item “could become a missile during an earthquake,” said Harriet Sculley, president of the 31st District PTA. “Are we going to put children at risk?”

Tenth District PTA member Fallon said classroom safety should be a priority in the system and that the district--and parents--need to inspect schools. “These are . . . low-cost preventable hazards,” Fallon said.

In its memo to administrators, the district said that teachers and other employees are responsible for making schools safer. “Make it clear to staff members that they are individually responsible for the safety of their individual classroom or office,” the memo said.

“Our bookcases still aren’t bolted,” said Anna McLinn, principal at Marvin Avenue Elementary in West Los Angeles. “We have earthquake supplies like water, pickaxes and shovels. But we all need to be better prepared. We all still have a long way to go.”