Portable problems ‘minor’

Ken McCall

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

An inspection of portable classrooms at Bonanza High School revealed a few "minor defects" but nothing life-threatening, a state official said.

A flurry of complaints by parent Michelle Stalk about the installation of the 20 portables sparked a series of meetings and phone calls early this week that culminated in a Tuesday inspection by state Deputy Fire Marshal Tony Capucci.

Stalk, an architect registered with the state since 1993, alleged a host of code violations, including inadequate crawl spaces, lack of tie-downs, improper clear space between buildings, lack of disabled access, an inadequate firewall and overcrowding in at least one room.

But interviews with four district officials and five state officials -- including state Fire Marshal Gene Williams -- did not bear out Stalk's reading of the building codes.

Capucci, however, did validate two problems pointed out by Stalk: wooden frames left under several of the portables and one room, 11A, that needs a secondary exit door.

"That stuff's gotta come out," Capucci said when he spotted wood under one of the portables.

Several wooden frames were too large to be pulled out between the cinderblock piers, but school district building official Dennis Drewniak said the workers will "either tear them apart under the building or take a pier out and pull them out."

The portables are being leased by the district from manufacturer Williams Scotsman, which was also hired to install them. David Broxterman, the district's manager of facilities, said the company was given until the end of today to get the debris out and have the siding reinstalled around the bases of the portables.

As Capucci examined Room 11A, he questioned one of the teachers about the kind of students who would be visiting the "resource" classroom. To date, the teacher said, only emotionally disabled students have enrolled, but physically disabled students also could show up.

In that case, Capucci told Drewniak, the district would have to install two wheelchair ramps on the building to provide primary and secondary exits.

Drewniak promised the extra door would be installed immediately and arrangements would be made for any physically disabled students who enrolled.

After the inspection, Capucci said he found only "minor defects that will be corrected immediately."

"The welfare and safety of the children is not at risk at all," he said, "because if it was, I would shut it down in a heartbeat."

Capucci also expressed confidence -- along with a host of school officials and a Williams Scotsman spokesman -- that the portables were safely placed.

"They're well-enough blocked," he said, referring to the piers of wood and cinderblock that the portables were sitting on. He pointed out that the district had gone beyond code by requiring more piers under each building.

"I tell you right now, those things won't move. I don't see any need to tie them down."

Broxterman called a meeting of his building officials Tuesday morning and spent two hours reviewing Stalk's complaints and looking each one up in the code books.

"We scrubbing everything down," he said. "We covered everything -- every administrative code."

The portables are installed to specifications of the manufacturer's engineers, he said, as is allowed by state law. The 24-foot-wide buildings are too big to be blown over by winds experienced in Southern Nevada, and seismic risk is minimal.

"We really could find nothing that would make us change the way we're doing business now."

Stalk, however, was distraught to hear the results of Capucci's inspection and the conclusions of the district and state officials.

"No," Stalk insisted, "they're totally wrong."

She defended her reading of the codes, saying the officials were "railroading" the issue and were ignoring appropriate sections of the Uniform Building Code.

As a result, Stalk's son Josh will continue to miss his ninth-grade classes.

"You'd better believe it," she said. "I'm not satisfied. I know where I'm right."