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Published on 06/23/1999 All articles from this issue

New fire safety bill for schools

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

School fire safety is a hot issue again in the state legislature. Assemblyman Ted Lempert, who represents the Los Altos area, wrote a bill which could require classroom fire equipment upgrades in all public schools.

The Assembly Education Committee unanimously passed the bill recently, pushing the bill past its first hurdle.

If Assembly Bill 20 passes, all new and modernized public schools could be required to have an automatic smoke and heat detection system in every classroom.

Under current state law, schools are required to have nothing more than an old-fashioned, manual pull alarm system.

"Most parents are shocked when they learn that public schools are not required to have the same basic fire prevention equipment found in most homes and offices," he said.

"I am determined to improve fire safety."

Lempert said he was unaware of the minimal fire devices required in public schools until a fire caused approximately $1 million in damages to the Green Oaks Family Academy Elementary School in East Palo Alto in 1997.

The fire had been smoldering in the school's attic for eight hours. If a student had not seen the library's windows "melting," the fire could have been tragic, Lempert said during an interview after the fire.

Lempert introduced two separate bills in 1997 and 1998 to require all newly constructed or modernized public schools to have automatic smoke and heat detection systems. Former Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed both bills.

Fire experts say regulations for public schools have been historically minimal compared to other public entities, since privately owned buildings are under local regulations, which are often more strict and do not apply to schools.

Lempert said it could cost between $12,000 and $28,000 per school to install new fire devices, depending on the age of the school and the type of existing fire system.

He said damages caused by fire far exceed the cost of installing new equipment.

He said fires at Evergreen grammar school and Gunn High School in 1997 cost approximately $1.7 million.

Schools in the Los Altos School District are equipped with an integrated pull-type alarm system that connects all of the classrooms' alarms.

If a fire is detected in one area of the school, alarms placed strategically around the campus will sound, said Randy Kenyon, associate superintendent of business services.

Kenyon said each of the district's nine schools will receive fire system upgrades over the next six years as part of the district's Master Facilities Plan.

He said under the plan, the district plans to modernize the fire system's computer located in the central office.

"We plan to do it whether it becomes law or not," Kenyon said. He said some money could be budgeted for sprinklers.

Kenyon said it could cost between $50,000 and $80,000 to upgrade fire systems at each school depending on the site's size.

To help with the cost of meeting this new requirement, statewide school bond funds would be used for the upgrades, Lempert said.

Superintendent Marge Gratiot said the bill could help free up some of the district's bond money if the state provides funding for the fire safety upgrades.