L.A. Schools to Be Inspected for Health Hazards

In an effort to overcome a flawed history of environmental safety, Los Angeles Unified School District has begun to comb its 900 campuses for problems ranging from asbestos to dangerous playground equipment.

More than 100 inspections have been completed since January under the new program, which aims to visit all the schools annually to document and correct violations.

Angelo Bellomo, director of the district’s environmental health and safety branch, said he decided the district needed a comprehensive program after news reports last fall of peeling lead-based paint in an area where children played at two elementary schools. It was only the latest in a series of incidents that severely tarnished the district’s safety record.

In November 1999, Palisades Charter High School was closed after construction debris containing asbestos was discovered in several classrooms. That discovery led to an asbestos survey that turned up potential exposures and temporary closures at seven other schools.

In May 2000, the American Civil Liberties Union named several Los Angeles Unified schools in a statewide lawsuit that claimed poor and minority students in urban California schools are denied equal education opportunities due to substandard learning conditions.

In September 2000, a 7-year-old boy was crushed to death by an unmanned electric utility cart left on a sloping playground at Roscoe Elementary School. A playmate got on the cart and released the brake.

Bellomo, appointed to the position this year after serving as interim director, said routine inspections could have prevented such problems. Such comprehensive programs are rare among large urban school districts, but common in manufacturing or private industries, he said.

Bellomo created a thorough inspection program that encompasses 20 aspects of health and safety, including asbestos, lead-based paint and hazardous waste management, chemical safety, fire protection, emergency preparedness, indoor air quality, pathogens, security, and crime prevention.

Safety Officers to Do Inspections, Follow-Ups

Eleven senior safety officer positions were created with increased funding from the district. Each officer is responsible for conducting routine inspections and follow-ups in one of L.A. Unified’s 11 mini-districts. The goal is to go through all schools at a rate of nearly 15 to 20 per week, and enter results into the database by June, Bellomo said.

The database will be used to identify trends and problems, and to determine where the district or schools need to spend their money. Inspections will continue annually.

Many problems turned up in the initial wave of inspections, varying greatly from school to school. At the 42 schools in the database now, inspectors found an average of nearly nine problems requiring immediate attention.

Three--Bell High School, Coliseum Street Elementary School and Virgil Middle School--each had more than 30 high-priority deficiencies, while several, including the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies and Arroyo Seco Alternative School and Fremont High School, had only one. Only one deficiency, rated the lowest priority, was found at University High School in West Los Angeles.

Finding Money for All Repairs Will Be Hard

The problems range from minor--such as burned-out light bulbs and loose or missing ceiling tiles--to the more alarming, such as improper chemical storage and failure to have the required release mechanisms on security grills that could trap students in a classroom in a fire.

Lynn Roberts, director of maintenance and operations for Los Angeles Unified, said difficulty will arise when schools try to find money to pay for all of the repairs that are discovered.

Some expenses may come out of a portion of the district’s general fund that is set aside for repairs, she said, but other work--even if urgent--may require financial help from the school board or state.

Arnold Giroux, a senior safety officer, said common problems are piles of supplies on top of cabinets, which can be dangerous if there is an earthquake. Also common is peeling paint, which can be hazardous if the paint is lead-based because it may cause neurological, behavioral or developmental problems.

Mona Kantor of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles said some principals may consider the program to be another demand added to an already full plate, but it is still necessary. “Our principals are so overworked. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and every day they get a new edict,” she said. “This is something else they need to comply with.”

But children are “entitled to both a safe campus and a positive learning environment,” she said, and if that means taking time out to move some shelves, clean a playground or fix a broken rail, it is a good idea.

Some officials praised L.A. Unified’s efforts, saying it would be effective as a model for other districts.

Ed Celaya, director of facilities for the Pasadena Unified School District, said the 32 schools in his district are monitored by a risk management department, which responds to safety complaints but does not have a routine-inspection program. And all of the campuses are undergoing modernization to correct problems with asbestos, lead-based paint, air conditioning, doors, windows and floors.

He supports L.A. Unified’s comprehensive, routine approach.

“It’s a terrific idea,” Celaya said. “It’s at least proactive. Liabilities are expensive and they cost us a lot of money, and it takes away our credibility in the public eye.”

Bellomo said the program is still being developed, and there will be improvements made along the way.

He wants to provide training sessions for principals, teachers, construction workers and plant managers to identify hazards.

“The core mission of the school district is educational performance,” he said. “But every principal of every school has an obligation to provide a safe learning environment.”

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Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this story.