Is Georgia Brown Elementary School safe? Paso Robles board hears concerns

A year and a half after the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board voted to remodel the Georgia Brown Elementary School campus, board members are set to start the process over again.

The re-start comes as board members learn there may be potential safety concerns at the school.

A geologic anomaly was discovered under the campus that could indicate a potential earthquake fault.

The school board decided during a meeting Tuesday evening to vote on several actions during its next meeting scheduled for Aug. 22, five days after the start of school.

Votes in store for Paso Robles school board

First, the board may vote on forming a new district committee to study if the district should shutter an elementary school campus.

A similar committee formed in 2019 found that the Georgia Brown Elementary School campus should be closed to save the district about $700,000 annually.

However, that committee is now at the center of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigation into a complaint alleging that the district discriminated against Latino and Spanish-speaking community members by not having a diverse committee and not dispersing information in Spanish.

The board may also vote on funding a study to determine where in the district the Spanish-English-language dual immersion program currently at Georgia Brown Elementary’s campus could be housed.

Additionally, board members may vote on funding a capacity study to better understand the district’s current school campus capacity. That could help the district better understand if it has too many school campuses as student enrollment trends downward.

During the late August meeting, Paso Robles school district staff must bring the school board information from the California Division of the State Architect regarding what it would approve or not approve to happen on the Georgia Brown campus in terms of construction due to the geologic anomaly found under the campus.

District staff must also give board members a report on what San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department’s assessments have determined are the conditions at Georgia Brown Elementary.

District awaits information about Georgia Brown Elementary School safety

The school district is awaiting information regarding the current safety of the Georgia Brown Elementary campus.

A pre-remodel survey found a geologic anomaly beneath the campus, which could indicate either an earthquake fault or other feature such as an old riverbed.

A district contracted structural engineer with an expertise in seismology had previously told district officials that the campus was safe given the information known at the time about the geologic anomaly.

The Division of the State Architect has told district staff the agency will not approve any remodel or construction plans on the Georgia Brown Elementary School campus until the district has further investigated the anomaly.

The Division of the State Architect “has said at this point that they’re not going to condemn the building, they don’t have the authority to condemn the building,” Brad Pawlowski, the school district’s chief business officer, said during the Tuesday meeting. “However, it is now on the responsibility of the district, meaning the board of trustees, that you take action knowing that there is some sort of anomaly there.”

Pawlowski said there are two options: further investigate the anomaly or to abandon the school site.

According to a state spokesperson, Georgia Brown Elementary received certification from the Division of the State Architect at the time of its original construction which means it complied with all applicable codes.

“This certification status remains unchanged,” state information officer Fallon Okwuosa wrote in an email. “A project that is certified by DSA is considered safe to occupy.”

Before moving forward with renovations, the district is required to submit a geotechnical hazards report to the California Geological Survey for review, Okwuosa said.

The Geological Survey must accept the report in order for the project to comply with administrative and building code requirements, Okwuosa said.

“As the regulation requires the geological assessment and acceptance by CGS for the project to advance, the district can only conduct remodeling activities such as painting or new flooring and maintenance activities,” Okwuosa said, which don’t have to be submitted to the Division of the State Architect.