Buena Park School District a Our Singents and E*

All but one of Orange County's twenty-eight school districts have (encapsulated) asbestos present at one or more its schools. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the status of facilities in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings.

Although current EPA standards provide that encapsulated asbestos does not present an immediate hazard to people who come near it, any physical disturbance and/or weathering which damages that encapsulation and releases asbestos fibers into the air will present an immediate hazard to anyone exposed to those fibers. Hence, broad-based awareness of where encapsulated asbestos is located is essential to avoid disturbing it such that it does become a threat to students and staff. The Buena Park School District disagrees partially with this finding. Buena Park School District agrees that encapsulated asbestos does not pose a health hazard to the public. Certainly, employees of the school district need to be aware of where asbestos is located but we disagree that members of the public need to know as this may create unnecessary safety and security concerns. Broad-based awareness of where encapsulated asbestos is located may also lead to vandalism thereby putting school district facilities, employees and students at risk.

Many school districts are not in full compliance with the AHERA regulatory requirement to have applicable AHERA reports available in the main offices of each school for public review. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the compliance status of other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. Our school district is in compliance with AHERA regulations. Our AHERA report is available for public review at our district office and at each of our schools in compliance with AHERA regulations, 40 C.F.R. section 763.80 et seq.

Many school districts are not in full compliance with the AHERA regulatory requirement to identify at each school in their district a "Designated Person" and to train each Designated Person to EPA-defined standards. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the status of personnel assignments in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. The Buena Park School District is in compliance with AHERA regulations and has a designated person at the district level. The AHERA regulations do not require a trained designated person at each school.

Although nearly all school districts train their facilities and maintenance staff on hazardous materials management, many fail to provide hazardous materials training to their teaching and administrative staff. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the status of hazardous materials training in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. Our school district has trained maintenance staff and other staff as mandated by AHERA regulations.

Orange County public schools are subject to very infrequent EPA inspections for AHERA compliance. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the status of EPA inspections in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. We do not control the frequency of EPA inspections nor can we make an assessment as to whether inspections are frequent or infrequent.

Inadequately managed construction efforts at more than one Orange County public school have led to expensive and disruptive hazardous materials events. Many Orange County school districts lack one or more documented requirements for contracting for construction that implement generally recognized best practices for dealing with hazardous materials. Such written best practices include: a. Performing all work at schools that deals with, or potentially deals with, hazardous materials at times when students and staff are not present, b. Controlling the scope of construction/modernization/major repairs undertaken in any one year to remain within the district's ability to manage the efforts, Separately contracting for hazardous materials inspection, abatement, c. and construction work once hazardous materials are abated, d. Including clear schedule performance requirements in every contract, e. Defining intermediate schedule milestones for all construction-related work that is expected to take over one month to complete, and f. Requiring monitoring by district senior staff of progress on construction work via personal walkthroughs of the work in progress. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of contracting requirements and processes in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. The Buena Park School District manages its construction projects in accordance with federal and state laws and regulations and utilizes best practices.

Many school districts with public charter schools approved and financed by their district, lack, and have not provided their charter schools with, written definitions of the respective roles and responsibilities of the district and the charter school in dealing with, written definitions of the respective roles and responsibilities of the district and the charter school in dealing with hazardous materials and with AHERA regulatory compliance. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of public charter school operations as described in other school districts, nor responsibility for public school charter in our District and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings.

Many school districts rely on paper documents for recording key information such as facilities data, facilities construction and repair plans, and AHERA reports. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. The Buena Park School District maintains electronic records for various types of facilities related plans, data and information, and complies with AHERA regulations which require the maintenance of paper records.

Some school districts have no documented facilities plans, and many districts that have plans lack key information in their plans such as estimated costs, funding sources, and schedules for work initiation and completion. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. The finding is vague as to the types of plans, key information, costs, funding sources, and schedules that are referred to. The Buena Park School District maintains documented facilities plans and key facilities information. We have no knowledge of the status of plans and information in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings.

Many school districts fail to post key safety-related information on their web sites such as upcoming activities at school facilities involving the abatement of hazardous materials. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of safety-related information posting practices in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. The Buena Park School District complies with all statutory posting requirements before and during hazardous abatement work. Posting safety-related information on the school district's website as suggested by this finding may increase safety and security issues. Safety- related information is available at the district office.

Despite the fact that all Orange County school districts serve highly language- diverse communities, several districts have no provision for communicating with their community in any language other than English. The Buena Park School District disagrees wholly with this finding. We have no knowledge of the communication practices in other school districts and, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the Grand Jury's findings. The Buena Park School District complies with state law regarding the translation of documents provided to parents.