Temporary Shutdown Is News to Students

Scores of students showed up for classes Monday at Chatsworth High, apparently unaware that the school had been closed for cleanup of asbestos problems that district officials blame on a contractor’s allegedly shoddy work.

The school’s troubles were deepened by a weekend fire that gutted a contaminated computer lab--collapsing a classroom ceiling and melting computers.

Although the school is scheduled to reopen Wednesday, officials will have to scramble to find about eight temporary classrooms to replace the computer lab and nearby rooms damaged in the $235,000 fire, said Principal Dan Wyatt.

City fire officials were investigating the cause of the Sunday night blaze, said Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells, but one Los Angeles Unified School District official said its origins were suspicious.

“From talking to fire investigators, there seems to be some contradictions in the burned-out classroom that raise some questions,” said William Panos, who heads the district’s environmental health and safety branch.

Separately, district officials have launched an investigation into Glendale-based Tadros Construction Inc. for possibly ignoring federal asbestos guidelines when they worked on the school’s computer network hookup--a Proposition BB project--said Hilda Ramirez, a district spokeswoman.

Throughout the day, miserable weather cast a shadow over the bad series of events at Chatsworth High.

“What a wonderful day,” Wyatt deadpanned Monday morning, holding an umbrella and looking up at the sky.

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School officials said the district tries to notify all parents about school closures by using a voice-activated machine that is supposed to keep calling until the phone is picked up by a person or answering machine. But many students said they were never notified about the closure.

A few students with cars drove up to the front of the school Monday, read the signs and drove off. Others had to wait for rides home.

“You bet I’m mad. And where’s my dad? I telephoned him 20 minutes ago,” said Catherine Pham, 18, of Northridge. “Some of us have no cars, and it’s pouring.”

About 70 students were also bused in, some from as far as South-Central L.A. Taking shelter in the gymnasium, they used 25 district cell phones to call their parents for a ride.

While some bus drivers complained about having to take students to the school even though it was closed, district officials said they were following policy.

“Whenever a school is closed, buses run their regular routes to pick up children who have not gotten the message,” Ramirez said. “It’s better than leaving them on the streets not knowing what’s going on. This way they’re provided with supervision while their parents are notified.”

Ricky Garay, 14, stood glumly at a street corner without an umbrella as he waited his ride. “They should have called us,” he said.

Later in the morning, buses took students who could not be picked up by parents back home.

District officials decided Friday to close Chatsworth High after environmental workers discovered asbestos during a routine inspection. It was unclear when the asbestos at Chatsworth High was first disturbed, Panos said.

Both Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades and Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights were closed in November for about a week when asbestos was discovered on those campuses.

Asbestos is a fact of life in many older buildings, where it was commonly used as a fire retardant. The carcinogenic fiber is most dangerous when it is disturbed and released into the air, experts say.

Work performed by Tadros crews may have kicked up the asbestos contamination that has affected 70% of the campus, which serves 3,000 students, according to Ramirez, the district spokesperson.

“The guidelines are pretty strict and pretty straightforward,” Ramirez said. “A preliminary investigation suggests the contractors did not follow the guidelines in dealing with the asbestos.”

Panos said consultants hired by the district told the contractor where asbestos was located in the school before Tadros began work in May. The company worked on and off at Chatsworth High until January.

A company official, who refused to give his name, declined comment, saying, “We don’t know what’s going on . . . I don’t have anything more to say.”

It is unclear how much exposure to asbestos is too much, said Jerry Martin of the California Air Resources Board. The toxic fibers can cause a virulent form of lung cancer and other maladies, he said.

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Panos said the district oversees the work of contractors and that his department would introduce procedures to prevent other such incidents.

“There’s not nearly enough being done now to assure that student health is protected,” he said. “We’re very concerned about this.”