 | | | Stanley Middle School, Lafayette Photo Andy Scheck | | | | | | The Lafayette School District was ordered by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District to clear up the fire code violations and implement fire district recommendations at each of its five city schools, before ConFire conducts a fourth and hopefully final inspection of the five schools during the first week of September.
According to inspection records provided by ConFire, violations at the schools ranged from an uncovered electrical junction box to obstructed exit signs to improperly stored combustible material. Of the nearly 70 violations uncovered by the fire district at the five schools, 27 remained to be corrected in the third week of August, with Stanley Middle School leading the way with 13 unaddressed code violations.
ConFire is required to inspect the 11 public and private schools in Lafayette annually. The Meher Schools, St. Perpetua and the Contra Costa Jewish Day School passed inspection earlier this year, Acalanes High School and the Bentley School will be inspected for a third time in September and the Springstone School will be inspected in October. The five LAFSD schools had been inspected three times in 2019, and in August ConFire sent each school a letter advising them that, though "progress has been made," their remaining violations needed to be corrected before the fourth inspection.
"We have resolved or are resolving everything that we can do with our own maintenance and operations staff. A few of the issues require outside vendors for whom we have been waiting patiently, and we were able to accelerate some work with the impetus of the most recent visit from ConFire," LAFSD Superintendent Richard Whitmore said.
The superintendent acknowledged the vigilance of the fire district and the fire prevention bureau. "All immediate recommendations are being rectified and . we appreciate the good efforts of ConFire and our inspector to bring the additional scrutiny and safety to our campuses," Whitmore said. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA