Valleywide : FEMA Urged to Speed School Repair Forms

Angered by chronic delays in the flow of federal funds for schools damaged by the Northridge earthquake, the Los Angeles Unified school board on Monday appealed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expedite the remaining repair applications.

The school district’s staff reported that 90 of the 125 most heavily damaged school buildings have not yet been cleared for FEMA funding, representing the largest portion of an estimated $40 million in outstanding applications.

Margaret Scholl, director of the district’s earthquake recovery program, blamed delays on the new fiscal conservatism at the federal level, although she acknowledged that in other major disasters government money also has slowed after an initial burst.

Principals from three schools--all in the San Fernando Valley--testified to the continued trials of closed, quake-damaged classrooms, cafeterias and bathrooms.

In making the motion to increase pressure on FEMA, board President Mark Slavkin expressed dismay that at the quake’s 18-month anniversary, “the freeways have been repaired, the Northridge mall is open . . . and yet we have schools in these conditions.”