A State of Disrepair

Many people might have heard that the school was in a state of disrepair, but I think few have actually read the severity of the lack of repairs and violations.  We have provided the entire letter and violations for you to view if you desire.

Many supporters were told that the school had passed it's recent inspection with 'flying colors.'  The Fire Marshal inspected in June and found nothing wrong.  Sadly, the Fire Marshal and the Building Department are two separate entities.  The Fire Marshal was there in June as a periodic inspection as is required for all child care centers.  The Fire Marshal looks for things like overloaded electrical sockets, clear exits in case of fire, working fire alarms, adequate exit and emergency plans for the children, and so on.  They do not make sure the buildings are up to building code and have no knowledge of what, if any, building code permits were properly obtained.  Many supporters are confusing this inspection with the inspections done by the City of Citrus Heights with regards to Building Code and Permits.  A supporter tells us:

sacmom1234

wrong. the code violations came after the shut down of the school. The fire department signed off the school in June 2011 and there were no code violations at that time. These items on the the list did not pop up in the last month. Definitely a witch hunt....just wait and see reallyrosy*

An employee at the time of the closure says:

crylotta 

I was also there the day the fire dept came out in June and EVERYTHING WAS JUST FINE!!!*

We have also heard claims that all the repairs were just a created out of the blue to keep the school from reopening.  Mr. Adams' brother tells us:

NotASheep 

Sorry I seriously made an effort to stay cordial, but I won't as long as some of you want to manipulate how this story evolves. The school pasted the fire inspection in June and then all of a sudden the school is shutdown in the middle of July and “ALLEDGEDLY” both Bob and the school were informed prior to the closure that “APPARENTLT”  the school did not meet the fire departments inspection. The post mark on the USPS Priority envelop was dated on  August 6, 2011,Three weeks after the closure*

Yet again, in an attempt to confuse the issue, we are told that Mr. Adams did not know about any of these problems.  As you will see, that is far from the truth.  These were ongoing problems.  Problems that someone who took pride in their business would have fixed long ago.

Mr. Adams' son-in-law also commented on the repairs:

ratherbegolfing79

The school actually passed inspection with flying colors in June and had no issues to be shutdown then. When they were close to re-opening the school that is when the city panicked and gave them a laundry list of tidious things to get done.*

The fact is, Robert Adams was give ample time to fix these repairs.  He chose not to do it properly.  His business license renewal was even revoked because of it.On 10/20/09 (Page 6 of 10), a notice of violation was posted for Mr. Adams.  On 1/14/10 (page 7 of 10) Mr. Adams was re-informed his buildings were in violation and was given a notice to comply.  On 5/14/11, (Page 10 of 10) Mr. Adams is informed that because of his failure to comply, his business license renewal has not been approved.  On 6/14/11 (Page 9 of 10), the plans for correction, as submitted by Mr. Adams, to the Building Department are sent back with corrections.  It seems that by time the Department of Social Services came around to close the school, the City of Citrus Heights had enough of Mr. Adams failure to comply and completely revoked the license as well.  Clearly this wasn't something out of the blue that the City came up with just to shut down the school.  This is nearly 2 years of warnings and non-compliance that, unfortunately for the families served by the school, Mr. Adams finally had to answer to.

Referring back to the letter sent to Mr. Adams after the closure of the school on 7/29/11 (Pages 1-5), all issues requiring attention and repair were itemized and listed clearly.  These items were to be brought up to code before the schools business license would even be considered for reinstatement.  The initial violation notice that included Buildings A and B was given 10/20/09. One year, nine months, and nine days later, the required permits have STILL not been obtained and the power supply to the violating buildings was still connected despite being told  644+ days prior to have it shut off.  In addition, despite the Building Inspector red tagging the buildings and clearly telling Mr. Adams construction must cease and that neither Building A nor Building B were allowed to be occupied, construction continued and Building A was being occupied.  An employee commented on a SacBee article,

crylotta 

The minute Bob found out that it wasn't allowed to be turned into a residence, the interior changes STOPPED!  The building has been used for storage for more than a year!  There had been quite a bit of vandalism on the property, so he thought it would be a good idea to have a caretaker...but the minute he found out it wasn't allowed, it all stopped.*

Well this isn't quite the case.  It wasn't that the building wasn't allowed to be turned into a residence, it was that, like much of the other construction and repairs done on the property, it wasn't done with the proper permits and up to current building code.  The Building Department marked these buildings with red tags.  The power was to be disconnected and the buildings were to remain empty.  They were not.  Worse yet, the red tags had been removed.  To be fair to this employee, I am certian she had no knowledge of what was being said to Mr. Adams or the numerous letters and warnings issued. She was just repeating what she had been told.  The Building Department's requirement was that these buildings either be removed from the property or that the required permits be obtained.  Certainly not an outlandish request.  It seems that even Creative Frontiers School is required to follow the Building Code laws.

The city also lists multiple storage units that are present on the schools property that also did not have the proper permits.  It seems that these buildings were not deemed safe as they were not the minimum 10 feet away from all other buildings and/or did not have 1 hour fire separation as is required.  The City's request was that these buildings be brought up to code or removed.  Again, certainly not an over-the-top request.

The 2nd and 3rd grade buildings also made the list.  The electrical connections were substandard.  There was also a lot of storage and debris around the buildings.  The City requested that the unsafe electrical connections were removed and repaired and that the debris be removed.  Again, there was a storage shed that did not meet requirements that needed to either be updated or removed.

The 4th and 5th grade rooms were not exempt from the list either.  It seems they too had substandard and dangerous wiring that also required replacing.  The building, which also houses the upper elementary restrooms, had substandard plumbing as well.  The siding of the building was deteriorated and missing in many areas. The awing was described as "in eminent danger of collapse".  Shockingly, the City asks that the electrical and plumbing issues be repaired, the siding be replaced, and the awing be replaced.

Also on the upper elementary side, the library was also in a state of disrepair.  The electrical system was modified to feed one of the non-permitted buildings.  This overloaded the electrical panel.  The City's request was that the connection to the non-permitted building be severed and the panel be have proper load calculations done by a licensed electrical contractor.  In addition to the electrical issues, this building also had problems with the roof and gutters, also described as "in eminent danger of collapse."  The roof and gutter needed to be repaired and replaced.

The preschool buildings were not exempt from the lack of repairs and maintenance.  The PK1 building, also had substandard roofing issues.  The roof had been repitched, but yet again the required permits were not obtained prior.  This building was also being used to feed one of the illegal buildings with electrical power, which then overloaded the panel.  Substandard modifications have also been made to the electrical panel without the required permits being obtained prior.  The HVAC unit on the roof of this building was install without...you guessed it...the required permits being obtained prior to installation.  Unsurprisingly, the City asked that the permits be obtained, and the substandard repairs be repaired or replaced by licensed professionals.

Building J which houses the staff room, and 2 year old rooms (Duckies and Froggies) was deemed to have "noticeable structural damage" from the large oak tree that was growing into the roof.  The tree was compromising the structural integrity of the building.  The building is so damaged, the City's request is that the entire building be evaluated by a structural engineer.  What was that Mr. Adams son-in-law called these repairs again?  Oh yes, tedious (well technically 'tidious', but I'm going to make the assumption that he meant tedious).  Keeping children in a building that is safe is so tedious, indeed.  In addition to the damage from the oak tree, the building was missing the previously mentioned one hour fire separation between the 2nd story storage area and the classrooms.  Also, the upstairs was missing 2 windows.  The electrical wiring visible appeared to be substandard, but 2 water heaters were housed in this building which blocked further inspection.  The entire gas cooking system in the kitchen area was to be housed under code compliant hooding to allow for proper ventilation.  It was not.  There were also numerous outside locations where the siding required replacing.  The city made several requests of this building; obtain proper permits for structral and wiring changes, repair damages, and to also move the water heaters for further inspection of the attic area.

The Jr Kindergarten, Kindergarten and 1st Grade building was also included on the list.  The bathroom (it doesn't specify which) is missing the grout in over 60% of the tile.  The subfloor also appears to be damaged.  Remember that there were MANY complaints about the terrible smell coming from the restrooms to the Department of Social Services.  In addition to the restroom issues, the building was required to have emergency exit doors, which it did, however the access to exit was blocked by tall weeds and grass and debris. The city asked that the debris and weeds be removed and the restrooms to be repaired.  In addition, the gates to this area were non-complaint and the City asked that they be replaced with the proper gates.  There was also two HVAC units installed without the required permits.  The City requested that the permits be obtained.

The office also had a new HVAC unit installed that did not have the required permits but no other issues were found.  The City requested that the permits be obtained.  Does anyone else notice that the only building not blatantly dangerous is the one not used for children?

The shed was found to have hazardous electrical conditions.  The City requests that the structure be repaired, but legally, by obtaining the proper permits first.

So that's is folks....EVERY SINGLE BUILDING on the property had something wrong with it.  While some issues were minor and easily repaired, some were so obviously dangerous.  I must ask, why were all these buildings so substandard?  Where was tuition money actually going?   I suppose you can continue to feel like this is a "witch hunt" and these repairs were just made up out of the blue to add to some grand conspiracy to take down Robert Adams and Creative Frontiers, but the fact is, the school was in a state of disrepair.  Building codes exist for a reason.  Building permits are required for EVERYONE.  By not fixing these problems, the school was not safe for all the children attending.

I guess I can see now why Dan Adams would rather talk about "S.L." and the Ryan Smith case.

*All comments quoted are copied exactly as they appeared.  Any errors in spelling are not my own