Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
2010-2011 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report Trace Elementary School:
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
SJUSD’s post-fire recovery actions were admirable, especially its concerted effort to involve the Trace and neighborhood communities in the recovery process.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
SJUSD should continue these efforts throughout the reconstruction process.
F2
The weak link that exacerbated the damage caused by the fire at Trace was the email communication procedure.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
SJUSD should periodically review its new communication protocol and randomly test it across the District.
F3
SJUSD has an afterhours central station which monitors all burglar alarms within the district, but because this station is not UL (Underwriter Laboratories) approved, fire alarms cannot be monitored at this central station.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The District’s Central Station should be upgraded to UL certification so that it can monitor both burglar and fire alarm systems, rather than requiring the use of a third- party monitoring service.
F4
The Fire Chief for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District issued a pledge in which he is asking all elected school boards in the state of California to issue a resolution that they will use the highest standards of fire safety in all school construction regardless of funding source.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
SJUSD Board of Trustees should issue a resolution to promote the highest standard of fire safety in all school construction and modernization regardless of funding source.
Conclusions 6
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CL1 Page 9SJUSD’s post-fire recovery actions were admirable, especially its concerted effort to involve the Trace and neighborhood communities in the recovery process.
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CL2 Page 9The weak link that exacerbated the damage caused by the fire at Trace was the email communication procedure.
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CL3 Page 9SJUSD has an afterhours central station which monitors all burglar alarms within the district, but because this station is not UL (Underwriter Laboratories) approved, fire alarms cannot be monitored at this central station.
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CL4 Page 9The Fire Chief for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District issued a pledge in which he is asking all elected school boards in the state of California to issue a resolution that they will use the highest standards of fire safety in all school construction regardless of funding source.
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CL5 Page 8The fire-alert procedure that required the use of email rather than telephone for "emergency" notification between the third-party, monitoring company and SJUSD.
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CL6 Page 8The inadequate fire alarm system. While much of the insurance deductible was paid through contributions from local businesses and members of the community, the cost of rebuilding Trace’s Building 100 was covered by insurance. The premiums for the insurance were paid with taxpayers’ monies. To the credit of the SJUSD, its leadership in recovering from the fire was excellent, especially since both the District’s superintendent and Trace’s principal had just started in their new positions over that same 4th of July weekend. 5 For the complete text of the pledge, see Appendix F. 8 Findings and Recommendations Finding 1 SJUSD’s post-fire recovery actions were admirable, especially its concerted effort to involve the Trace and neighborhood communities in the recovery process.