Media Reports

February 11, 2022

Utah is now working to make its schools safe.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2022/02/11/utah-has-schools-that/

February 10, 2022

“Hundreds of school buildings across the state, from tsunami zones on the coast to seismically active areas inland, face a high risk of serious damage,” said Sen. David Frockt (D-Seattle), the sponsor of SB 5933. 

https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2022/02/senate-unanimously-approves-major.html

February 10, 2022

The Washington Senate has unanimously approved a measure that would allow older schools at high risk of threat from earthquakes or tsunamis to get state dollars to replace or retrofit buildings.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/washington/articles/2022-02-10/washington-senate-approves-seismic-safety-bill-for-schools#:~:text=The%20Washington%20Senate%20has%20unanimously,to%20replace%20or%20retrofit%20buildings.&text=Feb.%2010%2C%202022%2C%20at%203%3A18%20p.m.&text=OLYMPIA%2C%20Wash

January 31, 2022

Most Washington voters think upgrading our seismically vulnerable school buildings is a state responsibility, NPI poll finds

January 28, 2022

A bipartisan group of state senators proposed putting a referendum about the retrofitting or relocation of unsafe schools on next November's Washington ballot. https://www.kuow.org/stories/earthquake-safety-of-schools-on-ballot-on-washington-coast-feb-8-possibly-statewide-in-november

January 26th, 2022

Big news! Meaningful school seismic safety bills have been introduced in the Legislature- https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2022/01/big-news-meaningful-school-seismic-safety-bills-have-been-introduced-in-the-legislature.html

 

January 19, 2022

(The Center Square) – The Washington State Department of Natural Resources last year released its school safety report after a four-year investigation. Officials in Washington state have identified 561 school buildings that could be at risk from a seismic event such as an earthquake or tsunami.  https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/hundreds-of-washington-schools-in-danger-from-seismic-shifts/article_c4880ce6-7967-11ec-ad50-ef1c70a0fcfc.html

 

The OSPI along with the Washington Geological Survey, part of the Department of Natural Resources, has surveyed 561 school buildings. https://www.king5.com/article/weather/earthquakes/state-chipping-away-at-surveying-washingtons-most-seismically-vulnerable-schools/281-f5835597-6e8e-4c98-a964-a7d4217a99fb

December 29, 2021

“Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer in our democracy,” reads the complaint filed Tuesday in Wahkiakum County Superior Court. “Our state government’s failure to amply fund the Wahkiakum School District’s capital needs, however, does the opposite. It makes our public schools a perpetuator of class inequality.”

 

November 21, 2021

"IT’S NOT HARD to design structures to survive earthquakes relatively unscathed. Critical facilities such as hospitals and fire stations are required to be built for “immediate occupancy,” the higher standard that Beaverton wanted to apply to its new schools. All it takes are bigger footings, more robust shear walls, stronger connections and more steel bracing, Yu explains."

 

September 12, 2021

Hundreds of Washington schools start new year with ‘F’ on quake safety, Tom Banse (Northwest News Network, Sept. 12, 2021 6 a.m.)  https://www.opb.org/article/2021/09/12/washington-schools-not-earthquake-safe/