I love carousels. Like, those old-fashioned kinds with the fancy prancing horses with flaring nostrils and the flaking gilt curlicues and the slightly off-key calliope music.
Wait, did I say I love them? I meant to say that they creep me out.
But I love to be creeped out, so I guess we’re all good.
Anyway, there’s something so magical and weird about perching yourself on a point in space that moves up and down and around and around but deposits you back where you first began. It feels like you’re getting somewhere while you’re on the ride, but when the whole contraption shudders to a stop, you’re nowhere new. Some riders find that reality to be dissatisfying, but I enjoy the opportunity to take a journey without getting too far from where I feel safe.
This sort of boardwalk-based circuit popped into my head when I started reading the California Department of Education’s decision on structural flaws and uncertified buildings in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
Actually, it popped into my head when I started reading about the department’s decision. Specifically, how the parties involved are responding.
True to form, the opposing sides in this situation don’t agree on much. In fact, they seem to be on different planets.
It all began—as best as I can understand it—when school board member and perennial Canary column-fodder-producer Will Smith complained—officially, with paperwork and everything—to the district, alleging that newly constructed buildings have structural flaws that render them unsafe. The official complaint route he chose to follow involved a specific education code concerning an emergency or urgent threat to health and safety.
The district jumped on that same path and said his complaint didn’t meet the criteria necessary for something called the Williams Uniform Complaint Procedure, which covers urgencies, emergencies, and the like.
Smith disagreed and appealed his decision to the California Department of Education, which just recently responded with a bit of official-looking text that both Smith and the district are saying backs their respective claims.
Those carousel horses could learn a thing or two about spin from these guys.
I tried to flutter my way through the department document myself, and while it seems deceptively straightforward, there does appear to be wiggle room for interpretation. Sort of.
See—again, as best as I can understand it—the ultimate findings were that some of Smith’s allegations of structural unsoundness were vague, and the specific problems that were identified, which involved gymnasiums and roofs and two-story buildings, were pretty much resolved. Various departments running various tests are cited throughout the document. While the report admits that some remedies are still in process, it also says that the “deficiencies do not rise to the level of an imminent threat to the health and safety of pupils or staff.”
This line stood out the most to me: “Although it does not seem that the deficiencies that are currently unresolved meet the imminent threat level that applies to the Williams Uniform Complaint Procedure, the certification does represent a level of safety assurance that is required by law.”
And that’s where everyone can plant their respective victory flag. Smith can crow about the district’s buildings not meeting legal safety certification requirements, while the district itself can pat itself on the back for acknowledging that there are potential problems left behind by TurnKey’s failed building attempts and for working to fix them. Smith says the buildings still aren’t safe. The district says they’re just dotting some i’s and crossing some t’s.
The state department further clarified/muddied the waters by chasing its conclusions with a statement saying “the CDE found no facility conditions to exist that posed an emergency or urgent threat to the safety of pupils or staff.”
Again, see the wiggle room? There’s no emergency or urgent threat. But Will, I’m sure, will say that there is a latent threat. An un-urgent threat. A ticking time bomb of a threat. The district, I’m sure, will say that everything is fine, of course, and will continue to be fine—or at least on its way to fine, which is fine with the people who would otherwise be levying fines.
And I’m back where I started. I sort of feel like we all are. We’ve gone all the way around and have come back again.
Really, what has changed? Smith told the Times (he’s no longer talking to the Sun, I’ve heard): “And most of all, I feel that this is going to make those buildings safe for our children.”
District spokesperson Maggie White told the Sun: “We felt very pleased with the report. It’s not a huge change because what the CDE said is what we’re already doing, which is working with the state architect.”
I guess the only difference between now and back when Smith was first making his complaint is that, these days, the folks involved all feel like progress is being made. Forget that each opponent is essentially laying claim to the forward motion—at least there’s motion, right? Or continued motion, depending on whom you believe.
No matter what, I’m sure parents and students will be happy to know that their safety is secured. Or will be. Or is in the process of being so. Or always has been.
Anybody who still feels like he or she doesn’t have the whole picture is free to hop on the carousel with me for another spin. I call dibs on the black horse with the jingly bells on its reins, the exposed teeth, and the mismatched eyes.
The Canary feels safest in the sky. Contact her at canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.