91看片网

OPB has featured Corbett Middle School in its series Unprepared.聽 The series explains how school’s and other organizations around the state are preparing for the magnitude 9 Cascadia Subduction Zone quake that will strike our area.聽聽 A link to the OPB web site and the broadcast is below.

A copy of the text of the web page is pasted below:

At Corbett Middle School, just outside the office, there鈥檚 a locked door marked 鈥淎uthorized Personnel Only.鈥� 91看片网 Superintendent Randy Trani recently unlocked it and walked down a staircase to a basement full of empty classrooms, toilets and聽showers.

He聽stopped聽at a row of a wooden beams that have been crudely bolted to the wall. They were installed 35 years ago to stop the foundation from聽slumping.

鈥淲hen the structural engineers came through and looked at that, they laughed,鈥� he聽said.

That鈥檚 because the beams aren鈥檛 connected to the ceiling above or to the floor below, so they鈥檒l only聽ensure the wall falls down in a single聽piece.聽 And, Trani said, the walls of the school were built of unreinforced masonry tile, without steel rebar or any kind of聽support.

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鈥淲hen the structural engineers talk about this building, they talk about 鈥榩ancaking,鈥欌�� he聽said.

Trani has tried three times to pass a bond measure to fix the school, but he said those efforts all failed for the usual聽reasons.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 believe that there鈥檚 going to be an earthquake. The building has stood for that long,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then just purely financial: 鈥業 don鈥檛 want my taxes to go聽up.鈥欌��

Trani also said that people felt their schools should be getting help from the state.聽That鈥檚 one of the reasons bond measures to seismically upgrade schools have failed in districts like Corbett and聽Seaside.

Oregon Starts Funding School Fixes

Seismic safety advocate Ted Wolf said help is on the horizon, because this year the Oregon Legislature committed $175 million for聽 school聽retrofits.

鈥淔or schools, that is about a 12-fold increase over the largest commitment we鈥檝e made prior to this,鈥� Wolf聽said.

The state has known since 2007 that . But, Wolf said, the Great Recession hit just after the state identified the problem, leading to a delay in聽repairs.

鈥淲hen the economy weakened, the state treasurer advised the governor to cut back on state borrowing,鈥� he said.聽鈥淪o, we go with the economic cycles, and right now we鈥檙e riding a rising wave, which is a good聽thing.鈥�

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More recently, in addition to committing to school retrofit funding, the state Legislature has also found another $125 million for matching grants to school districts that pass bond聽measures.

All school districts are now required to tell the state about any seismic upgrades they make, said interim state geologist Ian Madin. Those reports are available . Those types of upgrades could increase in coming years as schools take advantage of state聽funding.

鈥淲e expect to see a lot more of these potentially at risk schools properly evaluated,鈥� Madin said. 鈥淎nd where they鈥檙e found to be deficient, funding will be available for them to retrofit and to make them a safer place for their聽students.鈥�

School-By-School, Assessing The聽Challenges

Back at crumbling Corbett Middle School, Trani said, the local district is going to take advantage of the new聽money.

鈥淲e were super excited because we barely missed the seismic rehab for our gym last go-around,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e think we stand a good chance at getting the gym refurbished with the seismic dollars this聽year.鈥�

Matching-grant funds are critical because聽Corbett has a different聽tax valuation than an urban area like Portland, Trani聽said.

In Portland, where there is a strong tax base, the school district did manage to pass a a couple of years ago. It鈥檚 being used to seismically strengthen 26聽schools.