L.A. Schools Allowed to Keep $20 Million for Quake Repairs

A $20-million windfall of federal funds is allowing hundreds of Los Angeles schools to make earthquake-related repairs that otherwise would have drained money from classroom uses, officials said.

Most of the surplus will be spent on San Fernando Valley schools.

Earlier this fall, Congress liberalized rules governing how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disburses disaster aid, effectively permitting the agency to write a check in advance and justify the costs later.

This will allow the Los Angeles Unified School District to spend the full $200 million it was allotted for earthquake repairs, although its original list of FEMA-approved repairs will cost only $180 million to complete. Previously, the district would have been required to return the surplus $20 million, and reapply for additional funds.

The largest expenditure--$7 million--is going toward a new gymnasium at Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, said Margaret Scholl-Fairlie, director of the district’s earthquake recovery program.

Other projects include $700,000 to repair pipe organs at Hollywood, Van Nuys and Canoga Park high schools; a new multipurpose room at San Fernando High School; new and repaired academic buildings at Carson High School; new facades at Wilson High School northeast of downtown; and wheelchair access at campuses hit hard by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

All told, 330 district schools will share the surplus funds.

Under the old rules, the district would have made the improvements without the extra cash, but would have been forced to borrow the funds and divert money from classrooms, Scholl-Fairlie said.

“We would not have been able to fund these projects out of the general fund. It saves having a whole lot of hassle with FEMA people arguing over whether the work was essential, and it avoids further delays,” Scholl-Fairlie said.

The federal agency and the district battled for six years over how much aid should be provided, Scholl-Fairlie said.

Eighteen months ago there was a $55-million gap between the federal agency’s offer and the district’s estimate of the cost of finishing the repairs, she said.

“It got a little touchy,” Scholl-Fairlie said. “We were going to have to keep haggling with them.”

The two sides settled on $200 million only after a nudge from Congress, which in 1998 changed FEMA rules temporarily to settle a broad range of Northridge earthquake claims. Congress made the changes permanent on Oct. 30.

“We’ve reinvented the process to give local governments more budget control,” said FEMA Disaster Recovery Manager David Fukutomi. “They can make better business decisions by getting the money faster without the endless inspections and documentation.”

A critic of the federal agency said letting schools keep the excess money cheats taxpayers nationwide.

“If they’ve finished all their approved projects, why don’t they give the rest of the money back?” said Jim Bovard, a writer who monitors the agency for public policy watchdogs such as the Cato Institute. “How can they say their estimates from just a year ago are now $20 million off? This sounds like a clear symbol of Congress saying it doesn’t [care] about American taxpayers.”

The new funding method represents an about-face for FEMA, Fukutomi said. Formerly, victims were forced to return to FEMA for more money to finish repairs, and the agency would have to return to Congress to authorize the money.

The $20-million surplus does not mean that the district can go on a shopping spree, Fukutomi said.

“They might not have to write us a check back, but they still can only spend the money on certain types of projects,” he said. “And we verify the scope and use of all the funds. If they have extra money to make the schools safer, that’s good, too. That’s our ultimate goal.”