Quake Closes School an Extra Week

At least 600 middle school students here are getting another week of holiday vacation as officials struggle to deal with $15 million in damage to a historic campus from the San Simeon earthquake Dec. 22.

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board met for an emergency meeting Friday afternoon, and decided not to reopen the two-story brick structure housing multiple classrooms at Flamson Middle School come Monday, when students were expected back.

Structural experts reported that it was unsafe to occupy, with deep cracks in the wall and where the roof attaches to the wall.

The main building at Flamson, the site of the old Paso Robles High School, was built in 1924. Seismically retrofitted in 1959, it had not been brought up to current codes.

“Our very low estimate is that Flamson has $15 million in damage,” said district Supt. Patrick Sayne.

“In my opinion, I don’t think that building can be fixed. There’s just no cost-effective way of bringing a 79-year-old building up to today’s standards.”

When students eventually return to Flamson on Jan. 12, the school will go to half days, with students meeting in other buildings on campus. Only core subjects of math, science and language arts will be taught.

Officials estimate that it will be 23 school days before emergency portable classrooms can be brought on campus and put in use.

The school board action is only the latest evidence of the mounting costs associated with the magnitude 6.5 quake that rocked the Central Coast almost two weeks ago.

Two women died in downtown Paso Robles, one of the hardest-hit areas, and $200 million to $250 million in damage occurred throughout San Luis Obispo County.

“Our total best estimate right now is $222 million, but we believe that’s conservative,” said Ron Alsop, a county emergency services coordinator.

Alsop said Friday that his office kept getting new reports of structural damage, including one late report of $800,000 in damage to a luxury home near Templeton.

A series of eight minor aftershocks struck Thursday and Friday in the same area as the Dec. 22 quake, but there were no reports of damage or injuries, officials said.

Temblors ranged in magnitude from 3 to 4.2 and shook the area east and north of San Simeon, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Hundreds of small to minor aftershocks have been recorded since Dec. 22.

The status of emergency aid to individuals and businesses financially harmed by the quake remains unclear. Although the county has been declared a state disaster area, that frees up state money for public agencies only.

The only way individuals and businesses can get aid, beyond low-interest Small Business Administration loans, is if San Luis Obispo County is declared a federal disaster area. That determination has not yet been made.

“At the local level, we know our citizens need this aid,” Alsop said. “We know this is a disaster.”

Crews of inspectors from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration are expected back in San Luis Obispo County on Monday to tally individual losses.

“We see that as a good sign,” Alsop said. “We’re going to show them everything we can in the two-day period they’re here. But we keep finding more.”