Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/07/2019 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Presentation: the Recent Major Earthquake and Related Damage to School Facilities in the Anchorage and Mat-su Areas | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 7, 2019
9:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes, Vice Chair
Senator Chris Birch
Senator Mia Costello
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: THE RECENT MAJOR EARTHQUAKE AND RELATED DAMAGE TO
SCHOOL FACILITIES IN THE ANCHORAGE AND MAT-SU AREAS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
MICHAEL WEST, Ph.D., State Seismologist
Research Professor
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented on the Alaska Earthquake Center.
TIM LAMKIN, Staff
Senator Gary Stevens
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Showed video of the earthquake at the
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) campus.
TIM EDWARDS, Chief Risk Officer
University of Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the impact of earthquake on the
University of Alaska Anchorage campus.
TIM MEARIG, Facilities Manager
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on DEED role regarding
earthquakes.
MIKE BROWN, Executive Director of Operations
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the impact of the earthquake on
the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
DEENA BISHOP, Ph.D., Superintendent
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the impact of earthquake on the
Anchorage School District.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:03:49 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Begich, Birch, and Chair Stevens.
^Presentation: The Recent Major Earthquake and Related Damage to
School Facilities in the Anchorage and Mat-Su Areas
Presentation: The Recent Major Earthquake and Related Damage to
School Facilities in the Anchorage and Mat-Su Areas
9:04:14 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced presentations about the November 30,
2018, earthquake and the resultant damage to schools in the
Anchorage and Mat-Su areas.
9:04:50 AM
MICHAEL WEST, Ph.D., State Seismologist, Research Professor,
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, described the
work of the Alaska Earthquake Center. Rapid assessment
information about earthquakes comes from the Alaska Earthquake
Center. If an earthquake happens, the most basic of information-
- where it was, how big it was, what the extent of shaking was--
comes from the Alaska Earthquake Center. In coastal communities,
tsunami hazards are premised on an understanding of what areas
of a community are in the potential flood zone and which ones
are not. Over the past few decades, the Earthquake Center has
mapped this community by community.
DR. WEST pointed out the center's research and analysis of why
earthquakes happen in Alaska and what to expect in the future.
In 2018, Alaska had 55,000 earthquakes. The vast majority are
very small and not surprising, geologically speaking, but some
stand out. When the unexpected happens, their responsibility is
to figure why and what they can expect from those areas in the
future.
DR. WEST said the application of their data is used in a variety
of ways. All building codes have an adherence to seismic
standards based on an area's history of earthquakes and
anticipation about what might happen in the future. Any
environmental reviews for large development plans have an
extensive consideration of how to build safely for the seismic
hazards. Consideration of the likelihood of different types of
earthquakes in different places are built into insurance rates.
Evacuation routes and shelters for tsunami hazards incorporate
that.
CHAIR STEVENS asked whether most people are covered for
earthquakes and tsunamis.
DR. WEST answered that one topic is earthquake insurance and the
other is just someone's core, homeowner's insurance rates. Those
are proprietary formulas, but he is sure they factor in
earthquake potential in calculating overall rates. Earthquake
insurance is an add on, which some people have and some don't.
CHAIR STEVENS noted that his communities, Kodiak and Homer and
that area, are southern coast. He doesn't know if his own
insurance covers tsunamis, but they would do well to look at
that.
DR. WEST responded that he agreed, but he is not an expert on
insurance.
SENATOR BEGICH shared that he looked at the Alaska Earthquake
Center site often and that he noticed significant activity in
Kaktovik. It concerns him because their wealth comes from the
North Slope. He asked what is going on in Kaktovik.
DR. WEST replied that on August 12, there were two significant
earthquakes, a 6.4 and a 6.0, with prodigious aftershocks.
Almost all the activity up there can be attributed to
aftershocks. The bigger question is why they occurred in the
first place. They are still wrapping their heads around that. It
is not a surprise to have earthquakes in that area, but they
were the most significant earthquakes on the North Slope in
recorded history.
9:11:09 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said that he was concerned about the oil fields
and that perhaps they should delve into potential precautions
later.
DR. WEST responded that the producers and oil companies that
work in that area are aware of seismic hazards and have been
forward about planning and taking precautions and monitoring
their facilities.
DR. WEST said his intent is to show that information from the
Earthquake Center is used, such as for the building of ports and
major development projects. Every school in the state has at
some points in its construction attempted to factor in that
information. The legislature, with AS 14.40.075, gave the role
of earthquake monitoring to the university. The statute
designates the role of state seismologist, the role he is in.
Although he is an employee of the university and the Geophysical
Institute, he answers to the legislature.
DR. WEST said the center operates a network of seismic
monitoring instruments across the state. They record vibrations
and are streamed back to Fairbanks in real time. Each site has a
self-contained power system, a sensor in the ground, and radio
communication to let data be aggregated in real time at the
center.
DR. WEST said the center takes the pulse of Alaska. Any
vibration in the ground, a landslide, explosion, earthquake,
registers somewhere on one of the monitors.
CHAIR STEVENS said he noted several sites in Canada.
DR. WEST answered that they do have a lot of partner
organizations. They work closely with Canadians. Earthquakes
don't obey political boundaries.
DR. WEST said he wanted to give examples of the ways people work
with their data to answer meaningful questions. One way is to
assess where shaking was strong and where it was not. He
displayed a slide of earthquake data along the pipeline that
very quickly helped engineers assess where to pay attention and
where not to worry--support tools for people making rapid
decisions after an earthquake.
DR. WEST said they have had a lot of questions about the
November 30 earthquake. One has been was this a worst-case
scenario. People only need to look back to 1964 to see the
answer is no. But the next earthquake will look very different.
It will shake differently. The patterns will be different.
9:16:08 AM
DR. WEST said Southeast Alaska is more than capable of a
magnitude 7 earthquake, but it is likely to be some distance
from Juneau. Fairbanks has a history of magnitude 6 and 7
earthquakes but not as frequently as Southcentral Alaska.
DR. WEST said the forecast about when aftershocks will end is by
the end of 2019. At that point it will be difficult to
distinguish an aftershock from normal background seismic
activity.
DR. WEST said one question has been where was shaking most
violent. It was about the same in the Mat-Su, Eagle River, and
Anchorage areas. There was disproportionate damage in the Eagle
River, but it probably did not experience shaking that was
stronger than elsewhere.
DR. WEST said four of the five earthquakes in the U.S. occur in
Alaska. Their fundamental challenge is limited observations.
They don't have the same resources tools available in the lower
48. Alaska has three seismic sensors in an area the size of
California.
DR. WEST said they would have more capabilities with more
sensors. He made an analogy of an astronomer doing research with
a pair of binoculars as opposed to the Hubble telescope.
DR. WEST said Washington, Oregon, and California are rolling out
on an operational basis earthquake early warning. People can
have 5, 10, 15, 60 seconds warning before the shaking hits. It
is now a reality in parts of this country. It is not even
considered in Alaska because Alaska doesn't have the foundation
to build that system.
DR. WEST revealed that the monitoring network in Alaska is
presently stronger than before. Alaska has its Hubble telescope
because of a massive rollout in the last three years of seismic
instrumentation through a National Science Foundation project
that is going away in 2020. They are mounting an extensive
campaign with federal agencies, Alaska's Congressional
delegation, and a state capital project to retain portions of
this.
SENATOR BEGICH asked why the project is going away.
DR. WEST answered that it is a research project. The objective
was not year-to-year, decades of monitoring, which is the focus
of the Alaska Earthquake Center.
CHAIR STEVENS asked about the seismic stations in the state.
DR. WEST replied that they are very similar to what they
operate. They could not have tracked the Kaktovik earthquakes
without this project. The closest stations to Kaktovik are part
of the project going away in 2020.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if the cost of the capital budget entailed
taking over the seismic stations before they are removed. He
asked how fast that would have to happen before the Science
Foundation removes its science project.
DR. WEST responded that the goal is to assume ownership and
integrate about half of the facility into the existing state
network. They are pursuing $48 million at the federal level,
which would operate the system for a decade. He would
characterize what they are seeking in state capital funds as
kick starter funds.
SENATOR BEGICH said that is a small investment to keep oil and
gas partners whole.
9:25:05 AM
SENATOR BIRCH said he has seen a lot of remote sensing
capabilities and the technology is improving. He asked would
they get the granularity they needed with satellites.
DR. WEST answered yes. There are many different technologies
today to form their earthquake monitoring capability. GPS
sensors are remarkably capable. People would be surprised at
what information cell phones and their accelerometers can
provide in certain locations. Satellite images have excellent
granularity; they lack temporal coverage. A pass every few days
is the not the same as 100 samples a second.
DR. WEST said he wanted to cover building codes because they are
germane to the education discussion. Building codes have built
into them the seismic record that is changing and evolving
constantly. It is why they know to build to a high standard in
some areas and not in other areas.
DR. WEST said a video of schoolchildren responding to the
November 30 earthquake with drop, cover, and hold responses is
remarkable and no accident. There has been a concerted effort
over many years to train students. Everyone involved in training
deserves accolades for the responses that day.
DR. WEST said over the last six years the Alaska Seismic Hazards
Safety Commission has been pursuing support through FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management Agency) to work with school
districts to provide rapid building screening. This highlights
which buildings in the district are of concern.
CHAIR STEVENS said that is important because in tsunami areas
the schools are the evacuation centers.
DR. WEST responded that that is a key point for coastal
communities.
DR. WEST said he wanted to encourage them to put seismometers in
schools. In the world of 2019 that is easy to do. It is useful
and specific data about that particular school and its
neighborhood. It is an Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission
policy recommendation.
9:31:50 AM
At ease
9:31:53 AM
SENATOR HUGHES and SENATOR COSTELLO joined the committee.
CHAIR STEVENS reconvened the meeting.
9:33:06 AM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, showed a video of the earthquake at the University
of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) campus submitted by UAA and noted that
Tim Edwards would be testifying via teleconference.
9:35:35 AM
TIM EDWARDS, Chief Risk Officer, University of Alaska,
Anchorage, Alaska, said over 60 facilities were damaged at UAA
and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, including Anchorage,
Eagle River, Mat-Su, and Seward, with nearly $4 million in
damages. The UAA Anchorage campus was closed for five days. Now
they were working to see how much of the $4 million FEMA would
reimburse.
SENATOR BEGICH asked he expected more damage to be revealed
after the thaw.
MR. EDWARDS said yes, they were monitoring that, especially
around rain downspouts.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if he was repeating assessments because of
the aftershocks.
MR. EDWARDS answered that they monitor daily if they get
aftershocks. It is an on-going assessment project.
MR. EDWARDS said the earthquake caused substantial campus
damage. The boilers went offline at three residence halls. The
Chugiak-Eagle River campus was damaged significantly. The middle
college was relocated temporarily, but the Eagle River campus
has reopened, which he called truly amazing considering the
amount of damage. The UAA administration building has reopened.
The fire suppression, plumbing, and coolant leaks at numerous
facilities were caught early with rapid initial assessment.
SENATOR BIRCH asked about the photo of concrete blocks in a
bathroom in a slide of campus damage.
MR. EDWARDS replied that some of the walls had unreinforced
concrete. That is an issue they are looking into as they do
their assessment. He said the photo is of a leased building in
Chugiak. When concrete is not reinforced with rebar, it can
cause problems quickly.
SENATOR BIRCH responded, "Clearly."
MR. EDWARDS reviewed a slide of flooding at the Alaska Airlines
Center caused by the fire suppression system. They were afraid
of the boards on the basketball court warping, but they cleaned
it up quickly and there was no damage.
MR. EDWARDS said the photo of damage at the Student Union is
typical of a lot of the damage. A lot of ceiling tiles and
lights came down in many areas. Within 7 or 8 days, the response
team had the Student Union back together.
MR. EDWARDS said the response team got a water main break at the
Engineering and Computation Building under control very quickly.
It could have caused major damage. The flooding was getting
close to electrical systems. It was remarkable they didn't have
more water main breaks.
MR. EDWARDS said their buildings did well structurally, but
internally it was like shaking a snow globe. At the library over
100,000 books were knocked off the shelves. Everything is picked
up and running at the library now.
MR. EDWARDS said they have a strong culture of emergency
planning. They have three emergency managers, one at each
campus, and one statewide emergency manager. They were prepared
for the earthquake in November. They were able to execute what
they had planned for. There were no student, faculty, or staff
injuries. The initial assessments on all buildings were complete
in 36 hours. The earthquake occurred on Friday. They worked
throughout the weekend and the campus reopened on Tuesday in
time for finals and commencement.
MR. EDWARDS shared that the UAA mantra has now become,
"Together, we are unstoppable."
MR. EDWARDS said earthquake repairs are 90 percent complete.
They will be back to 100 percent shortly. They are working with
the claims division and FEMA.
9:47:20 AM
TIM MEARIG, Facilities Manager, Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said the department
does not have a direct role in schools at the LDA level except
for a few REAA (Regional Educational Attendance Area) schools
that they own. Someone from the department's facility staff
spent the weekend in Mat-Su and Anchorage just being a partner
with them. School safety staff happened to be in Anchorage for a
conference during the earthquake. That unit provides trauma-
centered education for teachers. They provided department
interface with school districts about available resources such
as counselors and information.
MR. MEARIG said the department handles emergencies through the
requirement that each district must ensure their buildings. The
department is not funded with an emergency fund. AS 14.11, which
provides state aid for school capital, provides for grant and
debt reimbursement as provided through the legislature. In the
Anchorage earthquake in January 2016, the department
participated with state aid in a project at Romig Middle School
and West High School to fund repairs that were initially covered
by district emergency funds. They were then submitted for state
aid on a prioritized basis. That could happen with the November
earthquake. If costs are beyond what FEMA insures, there might
be applications to the state for funding for repairing
facilities.
CHAIR STEVENS noted that in coastal communities, schools are
evacuation centers in case of tsunamis. He asked if the
department has a role in making sure that those centers are
stable.
MR. MEARIG answered that the department doesn't have a specific
standard about a school being an emergency shelter. That is a
community decision. As for whether AS 14.11 should fund a school
functioning in that role, there has been some discussion in the
past about who has the responsibility for things such as
generator capacity, fuel, and food storage. There are open
questions about how that dovetails with the K-12 mission.
SENATOR BEGICH asked for confirmation that grants for school
construction require schools to meet the highest standards to
anticipate seismic shock.
MR. MEARIG replied that they adopt appropriate codes put in
place by code enforcement officials and code bodies. They list
those codes for school projects. Those buildings are superior
quality buildings. There is a seismic importance factor used in
code based on the type of building.
9:54:54 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked, in addition to building codes, if any
consideration of location of schools is given as far as historic
seismic activity and location of fault lines.
MR. MEARIG answered that mostly local zoning provisions take
those into account. The department has published a school site
selection criteria handbook that includes some criteria about
siting in safe areas They do primarily rely on local
jurisdictions.
9:57:11 AM
At ease
9:57:17 AM
MIKE BROWN, Executive Director of Operations, Matanuska-Susitna
Borough School District, Palmer, Alaska, called the committee's
attention to the two-page handout about the status of facilities
in the Mat-Su Borough School District. As of December 18, 2018,
all schools were back in session except for Houston Middle
School, which has been deemed not safe to occupy. The district
has spent $1 million for earthquake repairs and response and the
Mat-Su Borough $800,000, so roughly $2 million has been spent to
date.
MR. BROWN said the Mat-Su assembly appropriated emergency
funding to address immediate needs. Immediately after the
earthquake their facilities responses included structural
assessments as well as various inspections of life and safety
systems, such as fire protection. Emphasis was placed on
preventing further damage from things such as water and gas
leaks.
MR. BROWN said outside of the damage to Houston Middle School,
Houston Jr/Sr High School, Colony High School, and Wasilla
Middle School, the majority of damage was to ceiling grid and
tile. Houston Middle School suffered significant structural
damage, especially in the second story classroom wing, as well
as the gymnasium, and is unsafe to occupy. The Mat-Su Borough
has already engaged with architects and engineers to assess the
facilities. They are doing that detailed inspection now. They
will get that report in the next month and the insurance
adjusters report. At that time they can begin to establish the
cost estimate to repair or replace. The damage is in the
millions of dollars with complete replacement as a possibility.
The borough and district worked closely to place 13 portables at
Houston High School. The two schools were consolidated into what
is now known as Houston Jr/Sr High School. In just one month
since the 7.0 earthquake they instituted a plan to keep the
Houston Middle School students together and provide them a safe
and healthy environment. This will be an extended stay.
MR. BROWN said Colony High School had gym damage and has been
unsafe to occupy since the earthquake, but they expect Monday,
February 11, that the gym will be open. The Knik Elementary gym
experienced significant ceiling grid and tile failure. Those
repairs will be completed over spring break in mid-March.
MR. BROWN said they are fortunate that there were no significant
injuries. They are revisiting procedures and processes to help
improve preparedness as they move forward. Student and staff
responses won the day. They continue the process of rapid visual
screening. They are screening for further investigations or
future capital improvements to make improvements in seismic
capacity in select buildings. Their number two priority on their
six-year CIP [Capital Improvement Projects] on file with the
Department of Education and Early Development is seismic
upgrades for four facilities.
MR. BROWN said they are pleased with the actions of staff and
students to protect life. The way they conducted evacuations was
appropriate, as well as the reunification process to ensure kids
were handed back to parents and guardians correctly and safely.
They put a focus on getting back to normal operations, getting
schools opened as quickly as possible.
MR. BROWN said lastly, they are moving forward on how to make
sure they have what they need to make improvements in facilities
based on what they've learned the last two months.
10:05:41 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said that at Palmer High School, fire alarms were
going off and so students were exiting and having to remain
outside. She asked if teachers felt that they were adequately
trained as far as evacuation and communication systems. She also
asked about the process for reunification and the process for
dealing with students whose parents could not pick them up. Some
parents would have been stuck in Anchorage. She noted that there
had been traffic jams when parents were picking up students. She
asked how the alert went out to parents. She also wondered how
much fear kids had when they were back in school and what
resources did teachers have for that.
MR. BROWN replied that he would start with communications. They
had an extensive debrief with principals about lessons learned.
Communications was one of the primary things that came up. They
are going to procure additional radios. They want to make sure
they have better radio communications so they do not rely on
building infrastructure and administrators can give better
direction and guidance about whether students should evacuate or
stay put.
MR. BROWN said they use Blackboard Mass Notification, which is
very effective in getting the word out quickly to parents. The
superintendent made decisions about criteria for the
reunification process to make sure that kids would not possibly
be going home to a gas leak without an adult to check that.
Schools had explicit guidance about releasing students to
parents and guardians. They have had a lot of discussions lately
about traffic control with the Mat-Su Borough and how to
orchestrate a reunification site if they must go to a secondary
location.
MR. BROWN said the facilities crews and custodians restored
schools back to order. Teachers had a day in classrooms before
students returned to restore normalcy to allow the staff to
address student needs the next day.
SENATOR HUGHES spoke about the trauma of the aftershocks. She
asked if teachers felt they had adequate support while
aftershocks were occurring and were additional counseling
resources needed.
MR. BROWN answered that he was not aware of any specific needs,
but psychologists and counselors were available
SENATOR BEGICH asked if he expected to find more damage after
the thaw.
MR. BROWN said that may occur. They did a grounds inspection
with a civil engineer. Because they are in a more rural area,
they had to look at wells for cracks in casing. They did a
grounds assessment as best they could, but it will be an ongoing
assessment process as the snow and ice melt.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if the district requires earthquake drills.
MR. BROWN answered absolutely. They do drill procedures on a
regular basis and schools are required to report that they did
those drills.
10:14:40 AM
DEENA BISHOP, Ph.D., Superintendent, Anchorage School District,
Anchorage, Alaska, noted that on October 19, 2019, at 10:19 in
the morning, every school and every adult in the Anchorage
School (ASD) did the Great Alaska Shakeout, so nearly a month
prior to the earthquake everyone participated in an earthquake
drill.
DR. BISHOP said that everything in her presentation is archived
on the ASD website. The ASD is an important part of the
community since 1/6th of the entire population of Anchorage
walks through an ASD school or works in an ASD school daily, and
she wanted to make that she reached out to the community and
made the information accessible.
DR. BISHOP explained that the link to the Earthquake Updates
page is on the Hot Topics page on the ASD website. Updates start
with a letter November 30 to ASD staff and families that spelled
out how communication would be given, what they would be doing,
and how they could access the most up-to-date information. The
last letter is dated January 22 for Eagle River Elementary and
Gruening Middle School, the two schools taken offline, including
for next year. They are now working with the entire community to
work for the best situation of kids. Their primary goal
immediately after the earthquake was to keep students with their
teachers. But now they want to talk to the community about
whether rezoning would be better than splitting up grade levels
and things like that. They are being very transparent with the
process.
DR. BISHOP said the ASD web page, The Road to Recovery, is an
update of all information from the very first rapid assessment
the day of the earthquake as well as the next steps.
DR. BISHOP said they did have an emergency operation center, the
Ed Center. They kept track of all 92 facilities plus two rented
facilities. By statutory requirement, schools must have a higher
level of readiness than general buildings. They had to ensure
that fire alarms were working, that panic buttons were working,
that the playground equipment had been assessed, that the
kitchen was ready for lunch. The Ed Center kept an ongoing
assessment of capital and school-ready functions. That group
operated for a month after the earthquake.
DR. BISHOP showed an online spreadsheet of ASD school status
that was updated with information from the Ed Center. As soon as
they knew information, families knew it.
10:21:11 AM
DR. BISHOP shared that a video of student reaction had been
taken because, serendipitously, a teacher supervisor happened to
be filming a teacher lesson when the earthquake struck. The
video shows how well the students responded during the
earthquake. Dr. Bishop said they do teach their kids to be alert
and then listen to instructions. Dr. Bishop related a story of a
reporter asking her how she responded when she first heard that
an earthquake was going to happen. She added, "Preparation
matters. The training matters. The Great Alaska Shakeout
matters."
DR. BISHOP said the emergency operation center was set up the
day of earthquake. The primary focus was student and staff
safety and then reunifications with families. Initially, about
24,000 students were in buildings. The earthquake struck right
before elementary school started, and 12,000 students were on
buses.
DR. BISHOP said that seven of the 15 heavily damaged schools are
in the Chugiak-Eagle River area. Eagle River Elementary and
Gruening Middle School are the two taken offline for next year
and presently, students are housed in different locations.
School was closed for a week. For two days all staff was out so
they could ensure all buildings. Then all employees, including
bus drivers, aides, and teachers, moved classrooms and put
classrooms back together. They used their own school buses to
move material.
DR. BISHOP said that FEMA was onsite February 4. The process
with FEMA is a negotiation about loss and damage. The ASD to
date has expended just over $22 million. Many of the costs are
reimbursable through insurance. They do not have earthquake
insurance per se, but building contents and what occurs after
the earthquake, such as water damage, are covered. Their
insurance adjusters called the day of the earthquake. The slide
presentation noted that the costs do not include the top 15
schools that are currently being evaluated by architecture and
design firms.
DR. BISHOP concluded by sharing an ASD video made to assure
families that students would be safe returning to school. They
wanted to show classrooms were mission ready.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if she expected to find more damage after
the thaw.
DR. BISHOP answered absolutely, especially in parking lots and
ground damage. ASD has received some criticism about bonding or
the cost of school construction. ASD has been replacing roofs
over the last several years. Schools in Anchorage are old and
built under different code. As they replace roofs, they also
upgrade them to seismic code. Now the community understands why
roofs cost $2 to $3 million. The newer areas of Dimond High went
through the earthquake just fine. The original areas were the
ones damaged. They know that building codes work.
DR. BISHOP said that when kids came back to school, it was
important to return to normalcy, to move through this emergency,
to learn from this event, to talk about it, and to continue to
learn.
SENATOR COSTELLO thanked her for preparing students. She shared
that she was home with her 11-year-old son when the earthquake
hit and he grabbed her hand and ducked under the kitchen table.
She said anyone who went to West High School knows it is missing
a level because of the 64 quake. The Alaska Seismic Hazards
Safety Commission provides information on the FEMA rapid visual
screening risk results, which estimates the collapse probability
of schools. The commission told her the Anchorage municipality
does not provide that information to the commission. She asked
Dr. Bishop to work with her on addressing that because Anchorage
public schools should not be omitted from this transparent
source of information.
10:32:45 AM
DR. BISHOP answered that she would. She said her ASD has not
been contacted, but they will look into it with the
municipality. ASD runs the schools, but the municipality owns
the schools.
SENATOR HUGHES asked how the FEMA money was handled. And since
school was not in session for a week, would there have to be
makeup days for students.
DR. BISHOP replied that the ASD builds additional days beyond
the minimum of 170 days. Students will make up 1.5 days and 1.5
days will be excused by DEED. Extending the school year is
difficult for families because of graduations, work, students
going into military, and so many other concerns.
DR. BISHOP said that FEMA is not a legislative process. It is
directly with the entities of the city, university, and school
district. FEMA is a negotiation. They must demonstrate those
needs. It is an approval by the federal government of the need
that the federal government will reimburse up to 75 percent.
CHAIR STEVENS said preparation is really important. They were
lucky it wasn't worse as it has been in the past. He asked
whether the school district is an evacuation site.
DR. BISHOP responded that many schools are evacuation sites.
Through their emergency response they have enough food, water,
and blankets--enough for three days to house the number of
students and families in different areas. They work with the
municipality on that. Structurally, many schools were not
damaged. The older HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning) systems use water, so, along with sprinkler
systems, they had extensive water damage. The ages of buildings
and dates of renovations mattered with earthquake damage.
Starting November 30, the city wanted to know the extent of
damage in order to know whether schools could be used as
evacuation sites. Some of the schools were greenlined right away
for the city in case they were needed. "It really just worked.
Practice does help us prepare," Dr. Bishop said.
10:38:59 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stevens adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 10:38 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SEDC_Presentation_AKEarthquakeCenter_MikeWest_07Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - Presentation - Impacts of the Nov 30, 2018 Earthquake on AK Schools |
| SEDC_Presentation_MatSu_SD_Earthquakes_MikeBrown_07Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - Presentation - Impacts of the Nov 30, 2018 Earthquake on AK Schools |
| SEDC_Presentation_AnchSD_Earthquakes_DeenaBishop_07Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - Presentation - Impacts of the Nov 30, 2018 Earthquake on AK Schools |
| SEDC_Presentation_UnivAK_USArray_07Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - Presentation - Impacts of the Nov 30, 2018 Earthquake on AK Schools |
| SEDC_Presentation_UnivAKcampuses_Earthquake Impact_07Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - Presentation - Impacts of the Nov 30, 2018 Earthquake on AK Schools |
| SEDC_Presentation_UnivAK_UAA Earthquake_Footage11-30-18.mp4 |
SEDC 2/7/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC - PRESENTATION - IMPACTS OF THE NOV 30, 2018 EARTHQUAKE ON AK SCHOOLS |