CERRITOS : Board OKs $820,000 to Repair School Roofs

The ABC Unified School District board has allocated $820,000 to repair leaky school roofs.

In recent months, leaks have sprung up in most of the district’s 29 schools, officials said. Financial problems had forced the district to delay some roof repairs for two to three years, maintenance director Chit Bao said. Most of the roofs are more than 20 years old and are warped.

District maintenance crews have already begun emergency repairs at Furgeson Elementary School in Hawaiian Gardens. Earlier this school year, leaks in the school’s library damaged the carpet and ceiling tiles, Furgeson Principal Linda Dohm said. The roof was covered with tarpaulin and sandbags until repairs could be made.

At least one-third of the 36 classrooms at Stowers Elementary School in Cerritos are leaking, Bao said. The school is expected to get a new roof.

Bao said the district will use reserve funds to finance the repairs, then will replenish the reserve fund when Warmington Homes, a Costa Mesa-based developer building 61 homes on land once owned by the district, contributes $1.3 million to ABC Unified in June.

The district has also applied for $820,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to finance roof and other repairs, acting business services director Ed Zemla said.