Topline:
Maybe your child’s classroom leaked during this year’s winter storms or shut down early — or entirely — during recent heat waves. Here are tips for parents and families that want to better understand the condition of their child’s school — and how to advocate to get it fixed.
The backstory: Throughout California, 38% of K-12 students go to schools that do not meet the minimum standard to be considered clean, safe, and functional. One reason? Schools are old. Nearly a third of California schools were built at least 50 years ago.
How do I get help? Start local. Your child’s teacher and the principal should be able to explain how to request repairs. There are also more formal — and legally enforceable — ways to report poor conditions at your local school.
Any person can file a Williams Complaint if:
- School conditions threaten students and staff health and safety
- A class does not have a permanent or qualified teacher
- Bathrooms are not clean, functional, or maintained
- Students do not have books or instructional materials
Schools have 30 working days to investigate and fix the problem and must provide a written response, if requested.
What can parents and families fix? Schools may welcome help with smaller projects — for example, gardens and campus clean-up days. For larger projects, districts are bound by the state’s education code, which lays out strict standards for everything from classrooms and playgrounds to toilets and accessibility.
Maybe your child’s classroom leaked during this year’s winter storms or shut down early — or entirely — during recent heat waves.
This guide is for parents and families that want to better understand the condition of their child’s school — and how to advocate to get it fixed.
My school has a problem right now — how do I get help?
Start local. Your child’s teacher and the principal should be able to explain how to request repairs.
Here’s how it works in Long Beach Unified, where Alan Reising oversees facilities and operations:
- Every school has a plant supervisor. This person is in charge of custodial services and investigates maintenance issues — whether they’re identified by a student, teacher, administrator, or parent.
- If the repair requires any of the district’s 85 skilled craftspeople like an electrician or plumber, the plant supervisor submits a work order to the district. These orders are categorized as emergency, urgent, or routine.
- The district prioritizes work orders based on severity. Response times vary from minutes for problems that could lead to serious injuries to “ I don't know when…but we'll get to it” for routine maintenance.
“We don't have the latitude of having an unlimited resource budget to have individuals waiting for a call,” Reising said.
Reising, who’s also the chair of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, says smaller and rural districts may have even fewer resources.
There are also more formal — and legally enforceable — ways to report poor conditions at your local school.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2000 alleging tens of thousands of California students attended vermin-infested, under-resourced schools. The resulting settlement created a process to hold schools accountable for providing students a clean and safe environment for learning.
Any person can file a Williams Complaint if:
- School conditions threaten students and staff health and safety
- A class does not have a permanent or qualified teacher
- Bathrooms are not clean, functional, or maintained
- Students do not have books or instructional materials
How it works:
- Schools have 30 working days to investigate and fix the problem and must provide a written response, if requested.
- Filers can also appeal the resolution (or lack thereof) to the school board and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, which may prompt further action.
Every classroom should publicly post information about Williams Complaints and many districts have websites explaining the process. You can also find the form online here.
How to file a complaint if you think your child's school needs urgent repairs
I’m a (plumber, roofer, electrician, etc.) can I just fix the school myself?
Probably not.
The state’s education code lays out strict standards for everything from classrooms and playgrounds to toilets and accessibility.
“We have to build everything that we touch to standards that allow students and staff that have physical disabilities to have adequate and equal access to those areas,” Reising said.
Volunteer for smaller projects. For example, gardens and campus clean-up days.
“We absolutely will support that, but we need to be involved at the beginning,” Reising said.
Grassroots inspiration
In 2023, a Dorsey High School teacher and a few determined students revived a music program and turned a neglected storage room into a studio with some elbow grease, donated furniture, and borrowed instruments.
“Like out of the whole school, that place we feel we could be the most comfortable in,” said then-senior Emmani Arterberry Bey.
What made it work:
- Students volunteered to clean up the space.
- Teacher Jasmyne Pope brought in a couch and her own instruments for the students to use.
- Pope also sought donations and grant funding from the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Read the whole story.
Is my child’s school safe from earthquakes?
An LAist listener reached out to my colleague and earthquake podcaster extraordinaire Jacob Margolis with that very question and he found the answer can be tough to pin down.
In 2002, California’s Department of General Services identified 7,537 public school structures that might be in danger during an earthquake for further evaluation.
You can ask your child’s school if any of their buildings seismic vulnerability has been evaluated, and if so, what the results are if they have been retrofitted.
In LAUSD, for example, as of March 2024 the district is still in the process of retrofitting 139 buildings and assessing 459 more for seismic safety.
Here are some other important questions about earthquakes that your child’s school should be able to answer:
- What are the school's earthquake plans and can you see them?
- What sorts of supplies do they have available and when were they updated?
- What sorts of precautions are they taking in terms of strapping down heavy items in the classroom and how often are classrooms inspected?
- Where will parents be able to pick up kids after an earthquake?
- If you can't get to your kids after the earthquake, what happens?
- Is there anything you can prepare for your child in anticipation of a disaster to make them more comfortable while they're waiting?
How can I affect what projects the district takes on?
Julien Lafortune researches school facilities at the Public Policy Institute of California and says parents and families can influence how a district prioritizes renovations and construction.
“Engaging with the district and putting pressure on them is something that has worked in the past,” Lafourtane said.
There are specific documents to look for if you want to better understand the condition of your local school and how your district is planning for long-term construction and renovations.
- Facilities Master Plan: A medium-to-long term plan for repairing and building school facilities created with input from staff, experts and the community.
- School Accountability Report Card (SARC): Each school is required to annually assess and report a variety of data from enrollment to teacher qualification and facility conditions. Search for your school here and then click the button that says “view full sarc” and scroll to the section that says “School Facility Conditions and Planned Improvements.”
Here are a few avenues to ask questions and raise concerns about the condition of your local school:
- Individual school board member: These elected representatives may have access to additional funding that could help your school and can amplify concerns from parents, students, and educators.
- School board meeting: These are public meetings where board members vote on policy and approve large-scale spending. Check the most recent board agenda for the opportunity to comment on school construction projects or repairs. Even if there isn’t a specific project on the agenda, you can share your experience during general public comment. At this time, anyone from the community is allotted a few minutes to speak directly to the board and whoever may be watching. Often, board members do not respond to individual speakers in real time, but may assign a staff member to follow up with your concerns.
- Bond Oversight Committee: School districts must create an independent body to oversee bond-funded spending. Search for your district’s bond oversight committee website to see upcoming agendas for public meetings, summaries of past meetings, audits, and other information about how the district has spent taxpayer dollars on repairs and construction.
- Local Control and Accountability Plan: Every district must create a three-year plan in consultation with parents, students, teachers and administrators to show how it will support students and meet goals. Public meetings are often held throughout the year and the school board votes on the plan before adopting its annual budget.
Where is the money for school building fixes?
California does not have a dedicated stream of funding to support the upkeep of the state’s public schools. Instead, leaders often ask voters to approve bonds to pay for repairs, renovations, and new construction.
This fall the state is asking voters to approve $8.5 billion in bond funding for K-12 schools and dozens of districts throughout Southern California are asking voters to green light local bonds. (We have voter guides for Prop. 2 and those local measures.)
A bond is basically a loan. The state repays bonds through the general fund and local school districts through property taxes.
Research shows the existing facilities funding system favors larger, more affluent school districts.
Here’s how it works: state bonds like Prop. 2 are given out as matching grants — districts have to chip in money to get money.
Districts with higher value property (more expensive houses and lucrative commercial properties) can collect more money through bonds. Districts in poorer communities can raise fewer dollars — even if they serve more students.
There’s no comprehensive inventory of California school buildings and maintenance needs. But researchers have tried to paint a picture using the data that is available and found:
- Nearly a third of California schools are at least 50 years old— and 1 in 10 are more than 70 years old.
- Throughout California, 38% of K-12 students go to schools that do not meet the minimum standard to be considered clean, safe, and functional.
The quality of school facilities is linked to student achievement — it’s easier to learn in clean, climate-controlled, well-lit classrooms. Poorly maintained schools may even pose health risks to students and staff.
About this series
School Game Plan helps L.A. families navigate their child’s education, from choosing a school to making change once they’re enrolled. Help us keep this project fresh and helpful:
Top illustration by Olivia Hughes/LAist.
