Utah Legislature: Bill calls for seismic upgrades of Utah school buildings

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker wants school districts to take seismic needs of school buildings seriously, but some education officials fear the bill he proposes would be an unfunded mandate.

A proposal by Rep. Larry Wiley, D-Salt Lake, would require districts to perform a seismic evaluation on each school building. The House Education Committee voted Friday to discuss HB72 again in the next few weeks.

Wiley says in light of the earthquake in Haiti, putting off seismic upgrades is foolish. "What kind of price tag do you put on a child's life?" he said.

Deputy Superintendent Martell Menlove said it would cost $1.7 million to do a seismic survey on all the state's approximately 1,000 schools. And it would cost $9.3 billion to do the seismic upgrades.

District officials say they support the idea of having safe school buildings but add the cost is prohibitive.

"That's a lot of bucks," said Tamara Lowe, Davis School Board vice president, adding it would cost $120 million in Davis District alone to do seismic upgrades.

Other education leaders fear the bill will result in the state requiring districts to proceed with upgrades and foot the bill themselves.

JoDee Sundberg, Alpine School Board member, said it would amount to "an unfunded mandate in a time when we have no money."

The Utah Education Association and the State PTA support the bill, as far as student safety needs go.

Canyons School Board President Tracy Cowdell says he agrees schools need seismic upgrades. "Unfortunately, this bill is necessary," Cowdell said, adding he believes many districts haven't taken a hard look at seismic issues.

Cowdell said it's frustrating to have inherited schools in his district that need upgrading. "Jordan School District has known about these needs for 20 years and essentially did nothing about it," he said. The Canyons District split from Jordan last summer.

Canyons District did a study of its school buildings and discovered the need for $650 million in renovations, "a good portion of which is seismic issues," Cowdell said.

Midvale Elementary School in Canyons District hasn't received substantial renovations since it was built in 1950. District officials say it would cost more to repair the building than to replace it.

Wiley's bill originally carried a $500,000 fiscal note, which he amended to $25,000. However, after committee members told the lawmaker Friday his bill would never fly in a time of state money woes, Wiley said he would remove the fiscal note entirely.

See the bill at le.utah.gov/~2010/bills/hbillint/hb0072.htm

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