Beverly Hills school district shuts down 3 auditoriums for earthquake safety

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- The Beverly Hills Unified School District shut down the auditoriums for Beverly Hills High, El Rodeo and Hawthorne schools after warnings that they could collapse.

"We believe the best course of action was to remove that possibility of danger," Superintendent Gary Woods said.

The move followed an impassioned warning by the interim facilities manager Tim Buresh urging the school board to move forward quickly to address seismic deficiencies.

A notice sent out to parents this week said the auditorium ceiling could potentially collapse. Layers of plaster that has built up over 80 years weigh as much as 40 pounds per square foot.

Many parents, including Jared Sagal, are alarmed.

"All parents just want is piece of mind when they send their kids to school and inevitably, the big one is coming," Sagal said.

Yet, there's an outcry about how to proceed. The district has identified 14 buildings that need seismic improvements.

The projects qualify for state funding, but accessing the funds could take time. At least two board members want to use existing bond money.

There's also the worry about more taxes. A majority of board members have voted to wait for at least a month to get a second opinion from a structural engineer.

The Parent-Teacher Association President for Hawthorne School, Tara Cucucci, is urging calm.

"Since 1933 with the passing of the Field Act in California, not one school has ever fallen during an earthquake and not one life has ever been lost," Cucucci said.

Woods agrees that schools have some of the safest structures in the community.

"Our buildings have been retrofitted over time. They have been improved over time. But some are 80 or 90 years old and need to be re-done now for the next 50 or so years," Woods said.

But the community remains split. The three schools most impacted face an interim emergency with their auditoriums shutdown.

"We have no other place to congregate so our award ceremonies, our graduation, all the classes, rehearsals that have gone on for the whole year - they have no place," Cucucci said.