Fairfax and San Anselmo Schools are Seismically Safe

Ross Valley parents can rest easy – all the schools in San Anselmo and Fairfax are up to earthquake-safety codes according to an extensive study released Thursday.

A 19-month California Watch investigation released Thursday uncovered holes in the state's enforcement of seismic safety regulations for public schools. 

Despite potential problems for a number of school districts throughout the state in meeting requirements, nothing here in San Anselmo and Fairfax slipped through the cracks.

Maps released for San Anselmo and for Fairfax show no schools in either town failed to meet seismic-safety standards.

California began regulating school architecture for seismic safety in 1933 with the Field Act, but data taken from the Division of the State Architect’s Office shows 20,000 school projects statewide never got final safety certifications. In the crunch to get schools built within the last few decades, state architects have been lax on enforcement, California Watch reported. 

A separate inventory completed nine years ago found 7,500 school buildings with possible seismic risks in the state. Yet, California Watch reports that only two of those schools have been able to access a $200 million fund for upgrades. 

Assembly Bill 300 was passed in 1999 requiring the state to compile a seismic safety inventory of California’s K-12 school buildings. If the state deems schools might possibly be unsafe in the event of an earthquake, it will send an AB 300 letter to the school district.

While ending up on the AB 300 list of potentially seismically risky schools can indicate dangerous safety issues, it can also signify a simple lapse in certification paperwork, even if safety upgrades have already been made.

Although no schools in San Anselmo or Fairfax have received AB 300 letters, 38 projects in Marin County have – including both Kent Middle School and Bachich Elementary in Kentfield. Ross and San Geronimo also had zero schools with AB 300 problems.

The most serious warning from the Division of the State Architect is a so-called Letter 4, presumably due to the most dangerous cases of noncompliance. According to California Watch, the DSA has a list of nearly 20,000 school projects that are uncertified – and about 1,000 of the schools on that list were at some point given Letter 4 warnings.

In Marin, just one project – at in San Rafael – has received a Letter 4, according to California Watch.

The relative safety of our schools doesn’t mean we’re not at risk for an earthquake, however, and residents should .

This story was produced using data provided to Patch by California Watch, the state's largest investigative reporting team and part of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Read more about Patch's collaboration with California Watch.