INTRODUCTION
Safety is the primary concern of all parents for their children. Likewise, safety for all public school students is the primary concern of the state agencies. Parents, students, staff and facility users assume that when they enter a public school, they enter a safe environment, in its design and construction. This huge responsibility is taken seriously and is the reason for most, if not all, the regulations that govern school construction.
California is covered with active earthquake faults, has a long coastline that could be subject to tsunamis, weather that sometimes puts us at risk for fires, mountains with the dangers that come with snow and ice as well as the new threat of terrorism and violence.
This chapter will begin to address the ways in which natural disasters are being prepared for in our schools. The Field Act requires a higher level of seismic safety than buildings built to the Uniform Building Code. Fire and Life Safety is addressed not only by how school buildings are designed, but also by the requirements for fire drills and training.
Tsunami alert systems are being developed in areas along our coast and our mountain schools take snow loads into consideration through their structural design.
The Division of the State Architect, (DSA) and the California Department of Education (CDE) work together as partners to provide safe environments for public schools. While DSA reviews the engineering aspects of school buildings, CDE reviews the location of evacuation areas, and safe routes for students to enter and exit the school property. The "Crisis Response Box" was distributed by CDE to provide information on earthquake preparedness. The Office of Emergency Services (OES) works at the state level to develop pre- and post-disaster protocols. They have developed guides for schools, such as "Schools as Post Disaster Shelters" published in 1995.
Yet, we can still be better prepared. Work is being done by all the agencies listed above to further that goal. The Division of the State Architect Advisory Board has developed an Emergency Committee whose task it is to continue to look for ways to improve safety standards as well as ways to provide better information to the public on how to be prepared. As this information is developed, it will be posted on the DSA website.
- JoAnn Koplin
Student Safety Articles
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