Loading...
1989-12-30 "Structure not .part of state 'pla.n. 'ew " 12/30/89 ',By DOUGLAS CUNNING Middletown ; : Staff Writer '_ ~_'~'.'~' . ., COLDENHAM ,- The state uca on. epartment- the sole regulatory authority over school building con- struction - makes virtually. no on-site inspections of school buildings. . ,,' , The department checks almost everything related to a , building's educational mission before construction - from 'lighting to classroom space to adequate ventilation - but . rarely checks whether a building will stand up, according . to a study of the department's procedures by The Times Herald-Record.'" " The Nov. 16 collapse of a cafeteria wall at East Coldenham, Elementary School has focused new , attention on the depart- ment and its procedures. The noontime collapse killed nine students and injured 17 others. The Record's' study found: . School construction did not have to adhere to any building code, until 1985, when the Board of Regents incorporated the ,Uniform State Building Code into existing educa- tion regulations; Adherence was not made retroactive. East Colden- ham, Elementary' School was designed 26 years before, in 1959. . Before 1985, school , ' construction had to com- ;~ ply only with the regula- , tions of the state Educa- tion Department and its commissioner. ' Those regulations required ade- quate heating,' lighting and ventilation, but did not address a building's "~ ;",)i', Gov. Mcirio:M. ',Cuomo wanis to prevent another East Co/denham disaster. structural soundness. . The 15 to 20 professionals in the Education Depart- ment would be swamped if they attempted to review , structural details in building plans. These staffers review the educational aspects of construction plans fdr almost all of the state's schools outside of New York City. o . The department todav makes a general review of I plans for adherence to state building codes, but makes no lon-site ins ections durin or after construction. oca Ul mg mspec ors, - w 0 ave authority ,over almost all other construction - have no authority : over public school buildings. Section 409 of the Education Law, passed m HIM, provides that "localities may not require boards of education to receive building permits." ' "I was under the assumption that public buildings would certainly be rigidly inspected," said George Marshall Jr., whose 7-year-old,son, George, iS,in a body cast as a result ! ' (Continued on page 14) :-; ":"'.'t!"l ".7~~r. .:.::~'~~': '-.... 'Ii rf!!s lM~ ffl OJjfIi 1:" Of II. 'c1P/Ji/J/e7u/J .. /IYBPPi/J. rq Ph ..~ J;, .Q h ~er O,7e: (9 qQ~ h uo,r J 'J4) <91JJJ<$~ /J ovER > TO< \'. School structures are not inspectea th~~g~~rf~~a~fORD~3 0- 8 9 ::::> The Cold~nham collapse could well prompt changes in of the 'collapse. "My feelings always. (have been) that department procedures, said Carpenter and other officials. school buildings should be built like Fort Kno~." For instance earlier this month Education Commissioner Marshall said his son asks a lot of questions that he can't Thomas Sob~l ordered his staff to come up with a regula- hnswer. ". . tIon for the periodic inspection and certification of all ' "But thank God he's alive," the boy's. father said. "I'm school buildings. . angry at the fact that the structure could have b~en more D 11 f ' bl' h' th d' t to secure ... It's not the safe place we' thought It would ?novan lJIa.v ca or pu IC earmgs on e lsas er be." . '," ',. " .., . see If chanRes m law are needed. , . . Two investigations, one started by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Carpenter ,also s,aid ,local buildin~ i~spectors may playa and a second by state Sen. James H. Donovan, R-Chad- reater role 10 reVIewlO school bulldlO s, although no s e- wicks, are probing the collapse, including the Education CI IC proposa as ye een roug 0:.1. Department's role in approving the scho91's 1959 building "I would assume that just about anything, at this point, . . plans. . is being talked about," Carpenter said. "We are in the . Most of the department's reviews of building plans,' now stage of bringing ideas forward; no idea is a bad idea.'" r. and in 1959,. focuses on lighting, heating 'and ventilation, Some local buildin ins ectors would welcome having j; and ot~er, aspects ,directly related to the edu~~tional mis- au on y over sc 00 Ul mgs. - <t' sion,., s.ald . Christopher Carpenter. a department "If h t' t th" .. d' t' spokesman",' ,'.... .....;, ,'. you ave olOspec every 109 10 your Jun!> IC lon, . . ';';, you inspect schools too," said Walden Building Inspector , Carpenter sal~ the department d?e~ not have the. ~taff to Rusty Sweed, whose village falls in the Valley Central co~duct exhaustive structural. reVIews, an~ he said som,e School DIstrict. The East Coldenham school, also part of rel1ance has to be placed on hcensed archltec~ and engl- Valley Central is in the nearby Town of Newburgh. ' neers to design safe buildings. ',., "It Id b' d 'f h d 'th 1 I' h I . " ,. . . wou e goo 1 we a a say m e oca sc 00 ,There was no bulldm2 code per se (before 1985), and It buildings" Sweed said still' is. legally a matter of what the Education Law ' . , . ,.." requires," Carpenter. said. , . . Cuo~o, 10 an~ounclOg the state s u~ve,stIgabon, saId the '", , --;'. , ' state IS determmed to prevent a slmllar tragedy. The BaSIcally, the ~aJor concern ?f the st~te, I m ~ure back state, through the Disaster Preparedness Commission, fin- . in 1960, was that. It meet regulations for. mstructIonal pro- ished its investigation yesterday. Cuomo is to review the . grams . . . But In teI'Il;1s of st~uctura~ Issues, the. syst~m report before it's' released possibly next week. pretty much worked WIth architects, m consultation With . , . ' engineers signing off on the plans certifying a struc- Donovan, who is waIting for release of the state report ture asso~nd and we accepted that.'" before proceeding further with his investigation, agreed , :'. ,- earlier this month that preventing similar collapses should i'i'S/aff 1 writ~rs Ai~~ s~~, ~nd Donna Liquori and Rik Ste. be foremost. vens of Ottaway New,s Service contributed to this report. . . "We can't even contemplate another tragedy like this," , .,' the lawmaker said. "It would be unconscionable," , -i _~~ ~t~~'O~~~ \o,"~ V .C). ~" \'l.~~ 'r.~\\ . \\. \. :n ~r"'\'~~ c>.~ ~~\S, 'l.~1'\.O , ,~~>:". ~\~) , .';),":;\~:.. \ ',' i .. ~ \ ~, ...... ' f.l . Most states aI/ow I~cal in~Rect;ons By ALAN SNEL rZ-ZO-89' 7/J1es HC~.I)IL &o~ , and DO~NA LIQUORI .... Colden ham report kept secret: page 14 Staff WrIters , . .:~ . : School inspection practices vary widely across the coun- try, but New York is among a minority of states that does 'not allow local building inspecto,rs to oversee construction. ~ " In some states, such as Nevada and Minnesota, state agencies must approve blueprints before a school is built. . Local building inspectors are not involved, but the state . agency ensUres that the building is structuraJly sound. . . In other states. includin~ California, a state architec- tural agency works hand-in-hand with' local buildin~ inspectors Jo make sure school buildings. are structurally sound... ' .'.. I ..,. . I . Then there .are"stateS 'such as WashiIigton' that. pass along the responsibility of building approvals to municipal building inspectors..- I . " ' . "In most states local buildin ins ectors check" said James Og es y,.pres1 en .C?.. e a 10na SOC1a 10n of School Boards. ., . . n New York however the state Education De artment has t e on y au on y 0 mspec sc 00 U1 lOgS. e department COUla, out almOst never Goes, check. ~Ile build- ing for structural integrity. . . ','. '. New York's review of school buildings - or its lack thereof - has drawn attention' since a wall collapsed at East Coldenham Elementary School and' killed nine chil- dren Nov. 16. .' ' A random sampling of states shows these. inspection methods: '.' , . California. The state's Office for the State Architect reviews blueprints to assure the building meets building codes, said Bruce Lowrey, a school facilities consultant for' ;~., The Oak Grove School, just ofl Route 9D near the Poughkeepsie Galleria, was' .designed by' the ,-,.oi ._t.,."I" .' Record photo by Philip Kamrass same architect and is similar in design to the East Colde~ham Elementary School. the California State Education Department. A local b~ild- inl! insDector checks the school to "make sure the plan:; are beinl! transferred" to the building, he sa,id. . Nevada. The state's Public Works Board reviews the structural, electrical' and mechanical aspects of all new. buildings, said Richard Baker, the board's deputy man- ager. Local building inspectors are not involved. . . Washington. . Local code inspectors review school buildings, said Alberta Mehring, education facility supervi- sor for the Washington Education Department. . Minnesota. School building plans must receive approval from the Building Code Division in the state's Department of Administration. The building blueprints .must show the school can withstand a wind force of 82 mph and its roof hold 40 pounds of snow per square foot, said Arnold Olson, a state building code inspector. . . Pennsylvania. School plans undergo an architectural review by the state Department of Education before funds are approved. Before the building is occupied, the state's' Department of Labor and Industry reviews the building to assign an occupancy. permit, said Brad Furey of the state Department of Education. As the plans are being .drawn up, the state works with the district to ensure com- pliance with national standards. Each district is then su~ect to local bUildinf inS;ections: Connecticut. Loca ins ectors review school buildings, as does the Connecticut Department of Education, said Catherine McManus, a department spokeswoman. ':r'O.:'