Thursday, February 04, 1999
Safety cost for schools is $7.6 M
Board agrees fixes should get priority
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Installing new fire alarms, wiring for exit signs and emergency lights and correcting other fire-safety and building-code violations will cost Cincinnati Public Schools $7.6 million, district leaders learned Wednesday.
School board members agreed the repairs should be a priority in building improvement plans, and they may vote to earmark money to address safety needs at their Feb. 8 meeting.
But the cost estimate intensified pressure on district officials, who face trying to persuade a skeptical public of the need for a $24 million to $92 million tax increase to keep up with inflation, erase per-pupil spending inequities and repair school buildings.
“Clearly, we need to go ahead and do this,” Superintendent Steven Adamowski said. “We have to make some harsh decisions ... about how we spend the scarcity of money.”
The issue arose at board committee meetings Wednesday, as safety consultant William Moehring and several city fire and building code officials updated district leaders on progress the district has made in correcting more than 4,000 violations city inspectors identified in 1996.
Many violations have been fixed, and the 47,400-student district's 79 schools are safe, Mr. Moehring said.
But many “big-ticket” needs remain, including:
• New fire alarms: Most schools' alarm systems were installed in the 1940s and 1950s. They're operable and city firefighters approved them as reliable until new alarms are installed. But they don't meet current codes addressing such specifics as audibility and location of alarm pulls. Cost: $3.9 million.
• Exit and emergency lights: Cost: $1.6 million.
• Ductwork: School ducts formerly used for ventilation now could act as conduits for smoke or flames if a fire
starts, Mr. Moehring said. The ducts must be sealed. Cost: $380,000.
• Doors and enclosures: Cost: $96,500.
Safety inspectors also recommended that the district hire a state-certified building and fire safety inspector to conduct twice-yearly surprise inspections of every school.
Board members said they aim to implement that suggestion.
The district already spent $5 million to $6 million to correct some violations, facilities director Diane Sakmyster said.
Officials agreed the district should foot half the cost of correcting the remaining violations — about $3.8 million — and seek matching money from the state to cover the rest, board members agreed.
District Treasurer Richard Gardner recommended that the district get its half from a $2.5 million permanent-improvement levy and the $200 million city and Hamilton County leaders have pledged to fix school buildings.
Officials plan to borrow that promised money this summer.
Mr. Adamowski said the district may need to lay off some of its 70 craftsmen to free up facilities money to secure the matching state money.
Salary spending in general should be reduced, he said, adding that at CPS, salaries account for 83 percent of spending, compared to the national average of 75 percent.
The district should correct — or have work contracts in place to correct — violations by September, said Capt. Mark Wilhelm of the Cincinnati Fire Division's environmental safety services bureau.
One city official admonished school leaders to move faster in correcting violations.
“To allow this to slide is a very serious matter,” said Paul Myers, assistant director of the city's building department.
“You're talking about life safety. The sliding needs to be brought to a halt.”
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