Are schools quake-safe?

"You have to remember this is a very quick (study); it's more of a visual inspection and a plan check," said Domingo Moran, Reaveley's reviewing engineer for the Alpine seismic study. "A further analysis goes into a series of checklists looking at structural systems, columns, diaphragm, walls. It is calculated; more engineering is involved."

The school district is arranging for the Reaveley Engineers to further study the buildings, Smith said.

For the original study, engineers rated buildings "very poor," "poor," "fair" and "good."

The buildings that received very poor and poor ratings were put into four different lists that prioritized seismic retrofitting by factors such as building age, square feet and retrofit costs.

Reaveley Engineers recommended the school district put the highest priority on buildings rated very poor. They recommended the buildings either be retrofitted to qualify for a good rating or occupancy be cut back.

Beginning this summer, the school district will begin tackling projects at buildings rated very poor and poor, Smith said, starting with the original buildings of Lehi and Central elementary schools. Both schools will be reroofed and tall chimneys will be removed.

Other schools will receive seismic retrofitting as a result of other building improvements.

For example, the district had long planned to reroof Barratt Elementary in 2008. Now, custodians will reroof the building and attach it to exterior walls so the walls don't implode if the earth shifts.

Seismic retrofitting projects on buildings' roofs are fairly easy if maintenance workers are already working on a roof, said David Holdaway, Alpine District's physical facilities director.

Upgrades to walls and foundations are more difficult and expensive, he said.

Very poor, poor ratings

The engineers assigned a seismic rating of very poor to buildings that are anticipated to have extensive structural and nonstructural damage in an earthquake.

Eighteen buildings received a very poor rating.

Westmore Elementary's No. 1 ranking is only for the original 41,176-square-foot building. The 7,000-square-foot multipurpose room addition from 2000 and 3,610-square-foot kitchen addition from 2004 are in good shape.

Westmore Principal Barry Beckstrand declined to comment, referring questions to officials at the school district headquarters.

In general, principals in the Alpine School District did not want to speak about seismic safety at the schools they oversee.

"I don't have the expertise to even read the report," said Jennie Barber, principal of Grovecrest Elementary in Pleasant Grove, which also received a very poor ranking for its original building. "The decisions for that will have to come through the district, not through me."