Paso Robles district defends Flamson Middle School construction

Federal auditors are wrong when they claim the quake-damaged Flamson Middle School didn’t need to be rebuilt, the Paso Robles school district countered Thursday. And while auditors claim $13 million was wasted, the district claims the money was needed to be spent to ensure the safety of 859 students.

“I’m feeling very confident that we have our documentation,” said Kathy McNamara, superintendent of the school district.

The district was in the midst of a budget crisis and a contentious round of teacher contract negotiations last month when it unexpectedly received the audit from the Office of Emergency Management Oversight, saying Flamson Middle School should have been repaired, not rebuilt.

The school, damaged in the 2003 San Simeon earthquake, was replaced by a $17.8 million new one, which opened in 2010.

“When it rains, it pours,” McNamara said Tuesday.

Thursday, she added, “This is very challenging to us because it’s been eight years and we haven’t heard a word.”

Under federal rules, the building should have been replaced if the cost to repair it exceeded total reconstruction by more than 50 percent. The original estimate said rebuilding would cost $8 million, while repairs were estimated at $4.8 million. That made repair costs more than 50 percent of rebuilding. When the building was completed, its cost was $17.8 million, leading the auditors to suggest $13 million needed to be returned.

McNamara said that audit was targeted at FEMA, which funded the project for the federal government. But California’s own Emergency Management Agency, which distributed the funds, has demanded answers from the district.

The district’s response noted that the 50-percent rule only applies if it’s feasible to repair the facility. And most engineers and contractors believed that any work on the old building “would not adequately repair the building so that it could properly perform as a school building and conform to codes and standards.”

According to the district’s report, experts said the building — retrofitted in 1959 — had just one “earthquake life” and would not survive another.

Sen. Barbara Boxer wrote a letter to one agency, the district argued, saying the notion of using epoxy to repair Flamson was “disturbing.”

A spokesperson from the Office of Emergency Management Oversight said the agency had no comment other than what was in the audit. A FEMA spokesperson was not available Thursday.

Increased costs, the district argued, resulted from requirements added by different agencies.

“We didn’t make any of these decisions in a vacuum,” McNamara said, noting that there was oversight through the process.

After the quake, the district and the numerous agencies had to act quickly, McNamara said.

“It was a crisis situation,” she said. “Nothing like this had ever happened here.”

Students, who were on break when Flamson was damaged, were moved to temporary facilities as the district then dealt with dozens of government agencies, engineers and contractors.

McNamara said records were meticulously kept to ensure the proper steps were taken, and each decision was made with the approval of agencies involved.

“We’ve been kind of raked over this, and there wasn’t a reason to rake us over this,” she said.

This story was originally published March 29, 2012 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Paso Robles district defends Flamson Middle School construction."