Monday, April 12, 2004 - Despite up to two weeks' warning, five schools targeted in a joint L.A. Unified School District-city inspection program ran up more than 130 safety and building violations, including pest infestation, leaky roofs and exposed electrical boxes, officials said Monday.

Among the health risks found were fleas, stray cats and the lack of soap in restrooms. They also found most of the five campuses needed additional seismic bracing and had peeling paint, which could increase students' exposure to lead.

While a high number of infractions were uncovered at the schools -- some of which had two weeks' prior notice of the visits -- city officials were pleased that LAUSD embraced the joint inspection process. And officials noted the city's report on the first phase of its campus inspections, to be released later this week, will mirror LAUSD's own campus reports that are already available on the Internet.

"Although the inspection results show that we still have a lot of work to do to improve the conditions of our campuses, I think the school district is clearly moving in the right direction," said City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who championed city inspectors checking up on schools and eventually overcame resistance from LAUSD officials.

The joint inspections were announced in January, after the City Attorney's Office received numerous complaints about dirty school restrooms.

In the first phase of the program, the city and the school district conducted joint and independent inspections of five campuses: Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks, Cabrillo Elementary in San Pedro and Eagle Rock High, Webster Middle and Manchester Elementary, all in Los Angeles.

Schools were given a month to fix the problems, and most of them are being addressed, the district said.

When the city releases the report on its inspections, it will detail whether it will continue with more inspections or limit its involvement to training, city officials said.

Even though LAUSD leaders agreed to open their schools to city inspectors after weeks of heated debate, they said they already had a good handle on inspecting and repairing problems on their campuses.

"We know there are challenges," said Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to Superintendent Roy Romer. "The question is, are you on top of the problem and are you fixing it to the extent that you can?"

Administrators at some of the five schools involved said the city's inspections were tougher than those conducted by LAUSD and that the city put more pressure on them to correct the problems.

"They were really looking and looking at things that affect children -- that there weren't chemicals that could hurt them," Millikan Principal Norm Isaacs said, adding he supports the city's involvement.

"It's unfortunate sometimes we're so busy reacting that we don't look at the safety of our students. As more people get involved, it calls it to their attention and it gets cleaned up. For too long, these things haven't happened."

A dozen infractions found during Millikan's joint inspection, including exposed electrical boxes and improperly stored chemicals, have already been repaired, he said.

Eagle Rock High School has made about 90 percent of the 37 repairs inspectors said were needed, Assistant Principal Jorge Antonio Garcia said. Those include housing all caged animals in a "humane and safe manner," and removing roosting pigeons and swallows.

"We're still working on a few things," Garcia said, adding that the school was written up for keeping stacks of clutter on top of cabinets, which is considered a danger in earthquakes.

"They were tough. They put some pressure on us."