Northridge : Sen. Boxer Views School’s Quake Woes

Two years to the day after the Northridge earthquake rattled Southern California and tore through the San Fernando Valley, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) toured Nobel Middle School in Northridge to view the progress of quake repairs.

Nobel was one of the schools hit hardest by the earthquake, sustaining more than $500,000 in damage. Nobel Principal Rita Davis told the senator that the school is still waiting for relief funds to clear administrative hurdles before everything is back and running.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has received at least $90 million to help renovate its schools, but only $34 million has been allocated so far to the campuses, many of which are in the Valley.

“It’s still frustrating that a school like Nobel has had to wait so long,” said LAUSD Board of Education President Mark Slavkin before joining Boxer on the tour. “It seems like we have placed a higher priority on things like the L.A. Coliseum or the freeways while our kids still have to suffer.”

Eleven-year-old Neal Bloom, a soft-spoken sixth-grader at Nobel, thanked the senator for coming to his school, but queried her about when she expected the work to be finished.

“I hope it gets done soon,” said Boxer, patting the boy on the shoulder. “We want to repair what’s broke and prevent anything else from falling down.”

Although much of the money Nobel desperately needs is still tied up, Nobel will receive $176,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the coming weeks to secure classroom ceilings and hang lights. Davis showed Boxer classrooms with hanging light fixtures.

The money awarded to the school, part of a $43-million hazard mitigation grant from FEMA, will be used to install more secure lights that will be safer in the event of an earthquake, according to Leland Wilson, a FEMA coordinating officer.