State Liability in School Safety

Can the state afford to not maintain school buildings? According to Tom Horne, the State Superintendent of Education, the bad economy has resulted in postponed maintenance at educational facilities.

In an article in the Arizona Republic last week, Horne was quoted saying “This year it’s understandable because the economy is doing so badly, but when there’s a recovery, I’m hoping they will fund maintenance of buildings, because the longer you wait the more expensive it is to make repairs.” OK. No argument there. But aren’t there other considerations too? How about, the longer you wait, the more likely building disrepair could lead to potentially dangerous environments for our children? Isn’t that more important than expense?

Earlier this year, two schools have had roofs collapse. Do we really have to wait until a roof collapses on the children before we make sure the buildings are safe? Will the state be better able to afford a liability lawsuit and paying damages to families more than building maintenance costs? We might find out. Let’s hope it does not come to that.

In 1996, a Kyrene school added skylights and a large air conditioning unit, without first investigating whether or not the roof could actually carry the weight. Thirteen years later the roof collapsed when the trusses around the air conditioner gave way. No children were injured at that time. However, if a child or educator had been injured or had lost their life, would the roof repair cost more than the wrongful death lawsuit? Is there someone out there actually considering this question?

How much would it cost to hire the skilled engineers to do the inspections on the over 1400 schools in Arizona? Further, is it possible that some of these engineers would agree to perform necessary inspections gratuitously, for the good of Arizona, its children and our schools? Don’t we all have a responsibility to help just a little bit in this failing economy? Has anyone thought about this? Certainly we can do more than ignore the problems and hope that nothing bad happens. We are better than this aren’t we? Is anyone listening?