LACOE inspects approximately 50% of classrooms and all common areas to determine if a school is clean, safe and functional.
Settled in 2004, the Williams Case resulted in oversight-related activities for the lowest one-third of schools in California based on test scores to ensure “Good Repair”, defined as “clean, safe and functional in California Education Code 17002(d)(1).
In 2021, Governor Newson approved AB 599, which amended California Education Code 1240 directing the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a new list of schools, including Charters, to be inspected beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.
2023-2024 WILLIAMS FACILITY INSPECTION UPDATES
The Governor’s Administration has passed legislation (see pages 2–3) as part of the annual State Budget process to amend the Education Code section that determines the list of schools subject to Williams monitoring. The legislation requires the 2021-22 Williams List to be used through the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. For reference, these would be the same schools that were visited during the 2022-2023 school year.
Summer Trainings were held during the months of June and July, you can access the Training Presentation from the 6/27/23 training.
NEW TO WILLIAMS FACILITIES? START HERE!
Start with a review of the information below if you're new to the process or need a refresher.
- There was a lawsuit that alleged that students were not afforded equal access to books, properly assigned teachers and adequate facilities.
- The settlement of the lawsuit resulted in a legislation change that defines facilities need to be in “good repair”.
- All schools have to comply with the requirements and we monitor compliance for the lowest performing schools according to Ed Code 1240.
A schedule of upcoming announced inspections will be available to Local Education Agency (LEA) Contacts approximately two weeks prior to an inspection (see schedules posted on our website). A phone call, text and/or email to the LEA Contact will be made to coordinate the exact time of the visit.
The legislation states that twenty-five percent of all schools are to be unannounced inspections.
We inspect forty to sixty percent of the classrooms along with all common areas and all student restrooms. We may adjust this percentage to between 25% - 50% to avoid contact with students and staff as much as possible.
If an extreme deficiency is observed, the school will have thirty calendar days from the date of the inspection to correct the deficiencies prior to our “follow up” inspection. In some cases a photo of resolved extreme deficiencies will be accepted to limit additional visits. Extreme deficiencies unresolved after thirty days - LACOE can post report to our website and inform LEA Board.
After all inspections and/or follow ups, the School and LEA will be notified of the results by email.
If your site receives an overall rating of Fair or Poor for your 1st yearly inspection, you are entitled to a second inspection (Re-Inspection), by a different inspector, as scheduling permits, prior to May 1st.
LACOE provides notice of upcoming Williams Facility Inspections to Local Education Agency (LEA) and School Sites via posting of schedules below and direct contact to LEA Contacts one to two weeks in advance.
First inspections of the day are scheduled to begin at 8:00am. Second, third and fourth inspections starts sometime after 10:00am, depending on the length of time needed for the previous inspections. Unannounced inspections are not included in the schedule (see the FAQs below for more information on unannounced inspections).
It is recommended that you view the Recommendations for Good Repair document and/or the Principal’s Toolkit and share with teachers, school administrators, plant managers, etc prior to your scheduled inspection.
LACOE conducts digital inspections; a PDF of your inspection report will be emailed to the Principal or designee, LEA contacts that we have on file and any other representative accompanying our visit that requests it, after our inspection.
We recommend that an LEA representative participate in the inspection in addition to the school site representative. We feel this will facilitate better communication and result in cleaner and safer facilities for all students, faculty, and staff.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail or call the School Facilities Compliance Manager at SchoolCompliance@LACOE.edu or 562-922-8872.
Click here for the Inspection Schedule
- “Good repair” is defined as “clean, safe and functional” per Ed Code 17002 and there is a list of each area we look at.
- We use a “school facility inspection and evaluation instrument”, subsequently named the Facility Inspection Tool, or FIT which is developed and maintained by OPSC.
- The data from the FIT is required to be used in the following places beyond County Office of Education (COE) Williams Inspections:
- School Accountability Report Card (SARC) due Feb 1 annually
- Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) which is a three year planning document that LEAs use to leverage resources and improve student outcomes
- The best practice is to translate each item found during the inspection and documented on the FIT into a Work Order to have the item resolved
- Determine which format you will use: Excel, PDF or web-based or simply take notes while walking around each space of the school
- Calculate the score and rating and enter it on the FIT
Sometimes schools are not reporting accurate information on their SARC and LCAP based on the results of LACOE's Williams Inspections. One common mistake is that the inspection deficiencies are noted and an accurate score is not calculated because the form and instructions are visually intimidating and complex. Staff then put in Work Orders and assume they will be completed soon; since all the work is about to be completed, the school scores itself at 100% Exemplary. However, this is no accurate - the FIT inspection is a snapshot in time of what the facility looked like when the inspection was performed and the score is a calculation of the deficiencies found that day, not what is assumed will be corrected in the future. If you want a score of 100% Exemplary, perform a new inspection after the deficiencies are corrected and if you do not find any deficiencies, then your score is 100% Exemplary. Our experience shows us that you will either a) find new deficiencies since a school is a constantly changing environment or b) all the deficiencies will not be corrected as soon as you anticipate because of the complex nature of educational facilities procurement, maintenance and operations.
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- Facility Inspection FAQs
- Glossary of Terms
- Why Does the Condition of Facilities Matter?
An Extreme Deficiency is anything that requires immediate attention due to health and safety concerns, neglect or something that affects all of, or the majority of the site.
A Follow Up is a spot check of Extreme Deficiencies only. A Re-Inspection is a completely new inspection.
If you have an Extreme Deficiency you will have thirty calendar days to correct the issue. Unresolved Extreme Deficiencies will be reported to School Board and LACOE will post on website.
As of 2022-23 the California Department of Education (CDE) has developed a new criteria to determine which schools will be monitored. For more information click this link.
We typically email the districts/LEA two weeks prior and call the school one week prior to our announced visit, We will also post the inspection calendars on our
website.
The Williams Legislation requires twenty-five percent of our visits to be unannounced; the selection is done randomly.
You may request a Re-Inspection from our office if you receive a rating of “Fair” or “Poor” on your first inspection. Re-inspections are conducted as time permits, prior to May 1st.
Exemplary: 100 – 98%
Good: 97.99 – 85%
Fair: 84.99 – 67%
Poor: 66.99 – 0%
For your convenience, we provide copies of reports to the School Principal and the School District / LEA after the inspection.
The Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) is under the authority of the State of California's Department of General Services. As staff to the State Allocation Board, OPSC implements and administers a $35 billion voter-approved school facilities construction program.
The California Department of Education.
The Uniform Complaint Procedure is a process to help identify and resolve any deficiencies.
Good Repair means a facility is maintained in a manner that assures that it is clean, safe, and functional as determined pursuant to a school facility inspection and evaluation instrument developed by the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and approved by the board or a local evaluation instrument that meet the same criteria.
The Facility Inspection Tool is the instrument used to record inspection data. The FIT measures the level of “Good Repair” found at the school site.
Something that does not meet the standards of “Good Repair”.
A deficiency that requires immediate attention due to health and safety concerns, neglect or something that affects all of, or the majority of the site.
A spot check of extreme deficiencies after an initial inspection is conducted.
A completely new inspection of the entire site, conducted by a different inspector, prior to May 1st, as time allows.
The School Accountability Report Card provides information about the school including the condition of facilities in regards to needed maintenance to ensure “Good Repair”.
NOTE: THE ERP NO LONGER EXISTS
The Emergency Repair Program (ERP) was a grant and/or reimbursement funding to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) for the cost of repairing or replacing existing building systems or structural components that are broken or not functioning properly and that pose a health and safety threat to students and staff at eligible school sites.
LACOE’s School Compliance Team inspects facilities throughout Los Angeles County Districts and our own schools for "Good Repair" to comply with California Education 17002(d)(1), but also because we know there is a correlation between how students learn in a classroom and their performance on tests and the condition of the facility that they reside in. We can facilitate repairs in a classroom through regular inspections, disseminating reports, creating Work Orders, following up on Work Order prioritization, coordinating with building owners on repairs, working with teachers to create spaces that align with “Good Repair” standards and through many other best practices.
Below is a bibliography of scholarly research articles, anecdotal stories and articles that focus on how the condition of school facilities relates to student learning (the original list was published by the CDE, and we’ve added to it).
American Architectural Foundation. Design for Learning Forum: School Design and Student Learning in the 21st Century . Washington, DC: American Architectural Foundation, 2007.
American Architectural Foundation. Report from the National Summit on School Design: A Resource for Educators and Designers. Washington, DC: American Architectural Foundation and knowledgeworks Foundation, 2006.
Blincoe, James Maurice. "The Age and Condition of Texas High Schools as Related to Student Academic Achievement " Ed. D. Diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 2008.
Boese, Stephen, and John Shaw. New York State School Facilities and Student Health, Achievement, and Attendance: A Data Analysis Report (PDF). NY: Healthy Schools Network, Inc., 2005.
Boyce, Peter. Reviews of Technical Reports on Daylight and Productivity (PDF). Troy, NY: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2004
Branham, David. "The Wise Man Builds His House Upon the Rock: The Effects of Inadequate School Building Infrastructure on Student Attendance " Social Science Quarterly, no. 5 (2004): 1112-28.
Buckley, Jack, Mark Schneider, and Yi Shang. "Fix It and They Might Stay: School Facility Quality and Teacher Retention in Washington, D.C " Teachers College Record,107, no. 5 (2005): 1107-23.
Buckley, Jack, Mark Schneider, and Yi Shang. Los Angeles Unified School District School Facilities and Academic Performance (PDF). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2004.
Bullock, Calvin C. "The Relationship between School Building Conditions and Student Achievement at the Middle School Level in the Commonwealth of Virginia (PDF)" phd diss., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2007.
California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division. Educational Specifications: Linking Design of School Facilities to Educational Program. (PDF; 184MB) Sacramento: California Department of Education, 1997.
California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division. Healthy Children, Ready to Learn: Facilities Best Practices. (PDF; 5MB) Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2007.
California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division. Re-Visioning School Facility Planning and Design for the 21st Century: Creating Optimal Learning Environments. (PDF; 1MB) Edited by University of California Berkeley: Center for Cities & Schools, 2008.
California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division. School Site Selection and Approval Guide. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2000.
California School Library Association, Standards Taskforce. Standards and Guidelines for Strong School Libraries (PDF). Edited by Debbie Abilock. Sacramento: California School Library Association, 2004.
Cash, Carol, and Travis Twiford. "Improving Student Achievement and School Facilities in a Time of Limited Funding" Connexions. December (2006).
Center for Innovative School Facilities. “School Facilities and Student Achievement”
Chan, Tak Cheung. "Do Portable Classrooms Impact Teaching and Learning? " Journal of Educational Administration 47, no. 3 (2009): 290-304.
Chaney, Bradford, and Laurie Lewis. "Public School Principals Report on Their School Facilities: Fall 2005. Statistical Analysis Report (PDF)" Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 2007.
Collaborative for High Performance Schools. Best Practices Manual: Volume I: Planning. San Francisco: Collaborative for High Performance Schools, 2006.
Committee on Environmental Health. "The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children (PDF)" Pediatrics 123, no. 6 (2009): 1591-98
Corley, Robert. "The Condition of California School Facilities and Policies Related to Those Conditions (PDF)" In Expert Report: Williams v. State of California, 2002. San Francisco: Superior Court of California, 2005.
Cotton, Kathleen. New Small Learning Communities: Findings from Recent Literature (PDF). Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.
Do K-12 School Facilities Affect Education Outcomes? (PDF) Nashville, TN: Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 2003.
Dryfoos, Joy G. Evaluation of Community Schools: Findings to Date (PDF). Washington, DC: Coalition for Community Schools, 2000.
Durán-Narucki, Valkiria. "School Building Condition, School Attendance, and Academic Achievement in New York City Public Schools: A Mediation Model " Journal of Environmental Psychology 28, no. 3 (2008): 278-86.
Duyar, Ibrahim. “Relationship between school facility conditions and the delivery of instruction: Evidence from a national survey of school principals” Journal of Facilities Management, 2010.
Earthman, Glen I. Prioritization of 31 Criteria for School Building Adequacy . Baltimore, MD: American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland, 2004.
Earthman, Glen I. "School Facility Conditions and Student Academic Achievement (PDF)" In Williams Watch Series: Investigating the Claims of Williams v. State of California. Los Angeles: UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, 2002.
Earthman, Glen I., and Linda K. Lemasters. "Teacher Attitudes About Classroom Conditions " Journal of Educational Administration 47, no. 3 (2009): 323-35.
Engelbrecht, Kathie. "The Impact of Color on Learning (PDF)" Presentation given at neocon 2003, Chicago, Illinois, June 2003.
Ford, Angel, EdD. “School Facilities Affect Student Motivation and Achievement”. LinkedIn, 2015.
Fuller, Bruce, and others. "Building Schools, Rethinking Quality? Early Lessons from Los Angeles " Journal of Educational Administration 47, no. 3 (2009): 336-49.
Hamilton, Samuel. “How School Facilities Affect Student Performance” Classroom, 2017.
Harner, David. "Effects of Thermal Environment on Learning Skills " The Educational Facility Planner 12, no. 2, April (1974): 4-6.
Heschong Mahone Group. Daylighting in Schools: An Investigation into the Relationship between Daylighting and Human Performance (PDF). San Francisco: Pacific Gas and Electric Co., 1999.
Heschong Mahone Group. Daylighting in Schools: Reanalysis Report (PDF). Sacramento, CA: California Energy Commission, October 2003.
Heschong Mahone Group. Windows and Classrooms: A Study of Student Performance and the Indoor Environment (PDF). Sacramento, CA: California Energy Commission, October 2003.
Hughes, Stephanie Marie. "The Relationship between School Design Variables and Student Achievement in a Large Urban Texas School District " Ed.D. Diss., Baylor University, 2006.
Jackson, Richard J. J., and June Tester. "Environment Shapes Health, Including Children's Mental Health " Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 47, no. 2 (2008): 129-31.
Kumar, Revathy, Patrick M. O'Malley, and Lloyd D. Johnston. "Association between Physical Environment of Secondary Schools and Student Problem Behavior " Environment and Behavior 40, no. 4 (2008): 455-86.
Lackney, Jeffery. Thirty-Three Educational Design Principles for Schools and Community Learning Centers (PDF). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2000.
Lee, Valerie E. , Douglas D. Ready, and Kevin G. Welner. "Educational Equity and School Structure: School Size, School Overcrowding, and Alternative Organizational Structures " In Williams Watch Series: Investigating the Claims of Williams v. State of California. Los Angeles: UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, 2002.
Lippman, Peter C. Evidence-Based Design of Elementary and Secondary Schools. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
Lyons, John B. "Do School Facilities Really Impact a Child's Education" In issuetrak: A CEFPI Brief on Educational Facility Issues. Scottsdale, AZ: Council of Education Facility Planners International, 2001.
Ma, Annie. “Run-down buildings, struggling schools: how crumbling facilities affect student performance”. Chalkbeat, 2016.
Mannie, Sierra. “When it comes to student achievement, facilities matter”. The Hechinger Report, 2016.
Mason, Laura Deanne. "School Facility Design Characteristics Supporting California Schools to Watch (TM) - Taking Center Stage Middle Schools: Perceptions of Middle School Principals and Teachers." edd diss., University of laverne, 2008.
Matsuoka, Rodney H. "Student Performance and High School Landscapes: Examining the Links " Landscape and Urban Planning, no. 4 (2010).
McGowen, Robert Scott. “The impact of school facilities on student achievement, attendance, behavior, completion rate and teacher turnover rate in selected Texas high schools”, 2018.
Nair, Prakash, Randall Fielding, and Jeffery Lackney. The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for the 21st Century. 2nd revised ed. Minneapolis, MN: designshare.com, 2009.
Nathan, Joe, and Karen Febey. Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools (PDF). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2001.
PennState. “The Importance of School Facilities in Improving Student Outcomes” Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Analysis, College of Education, 2015.
Rahman, Tamanna, Rachel A. Cushing, and Richard J. Jackson. "Contributions of Built Environment to Childhood Obesity " Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, no. 78 (2011).
Sandel, Megan. "The Impact of the Physical Condition of School Facilities on Student's Short Term and Long Term Health (PDF)" In Expert Report: Williams v. State of California, 2002. San Francisco: Superior Court of California, 2005.
Schneider, Mark. Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes? (PDF) Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2002.
Schneider, Mark. Linking School Facility Conditions to Teacher Satisfaction and Success (PDF). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2003.
Sheets, Martin Eugene. "The Relationship between the Condition of School Facilities and Certain Educational Outcomes, Particularly in Rural Public High Schools in Texas (PDF)" Ed.D. Diss., Texas Tech University, 2009.
Stevenson, Kenneth R. The Relationship of School Facilities Conditions to Selected Student Academic Outcomes: A Study of South Carolina Public Schools (PDF). Columbia, SC: South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, 2001.
Stevenson, Kenneth R. School Size and Its Relationship to Student Outcomes and School Climate (PDF). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2006.
Stockard, Jean, and Mayberry, Maralee. “Effective Educational Environments”, Newberry Park: ERIC, 1992.
Tanner, C. Kenneth. "Effects of School Design on Student Outcomes (PDF)"Journal of Educational Administration 47, no. 3 (2009): 381-99.
Tanner, C. Kenneth, and Ann Langford. The Importance of Interior Design Elements as They Relate to Student Outcomes (PDF). Washington, DC: ERIC, 2003.
Uline, Cynthia L., Megan Tschannen-Moran, and Thomas devere Wolsey. "The Walls Still Speak: The Stories Occupants Tell Journal of Educational Administration, no. 3 (2009): 400-26.
Vincent, Jeffrey M., and Mary Filardo. Research on the Impact of School Facilities on Students and Teachers: A Summary of Studies Published since 2000 . Washington, DC: 21st Century School Fund, 2009.
Whipple, Sara Sepanski, and others. "An Ecological Perspective on Cumulative School and Neighborhood Risk Factors Related to Achievement " Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 31, no. 6 (2010): 422-27.
Wiechmann, Dennis Robert. "The Relationship between California's Community Day Schools Facility and Facility Condition with Measures of Academic Readiness, Academic Achievement, and Resiliency." phd diss, California State University, Fresno, 2008.
CONNECT WITH US
Do you have a general question? SchoolCompliance@lacoe.edu
Jema Estrella, Director Facilities and Construction
Estrella_Jema@lacoe.edu
(562) 922-8981
Laura Verbryck, Facilities Compliance Manager
Verbryck_Laura@lacoe.edu
(562) 922-6740
Anthony Vallo, Facilities Compliance Inspector
Vallo_Anthony@lacoe.edu
(562) 922-8716
Hubert Sam, Facilities Compliance Inspector
Sam_Hubert@lacoe.edu
(562) 922-6830
Jake Ramos, Facilities Compliance Inspector
Ramos_Jake@lacoe.edu
(562) 922-8743
