Whale bones bring to life school's old problems

A celebrated project to mount blue whale bones at a South Coast school could have the unintended consequence of forcing the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District to deal with the skeletons in its own closet.

Last month, district administrators sent concept drawings to the San Mateo County Planning Department that outline a 110-foot display for the bones in front of Pescadero Elementary School.

Designed with the help of an artist and engineer, the bone display would roughly match the dimensions of a real blue whale and would include a small garden and seating for outdoor classes.

But county planners say there is no way they could consider the leviathan plans as long as the school remains out of compliance for its regular classrooms. Those problems date back to 2008, when the district requested county planners grant two emergency permits for modular classrooms at Pescadero elementary and middle schools.

Those buildings were needed in a hurry because the district had mistakenly demolished nine classrooms on the presumption that it could move students into new facilities built with the voter-approved bond money. But some of the new classrooms were later found to be out of compliance with state codes, and the district was left in the lurch, needing new rooms on the fly.

Today the district leaders say they have smoothed over the worst problems of the bungled construction project. But county planners say the permit situation on their end hasn't changed since 2008.

"They have what boils down to violations because they don't have permits," said county planner Melissa Ross. "It's pretty standard. They have outstanding permits that they have to get resolved before we give them anything else."

Ross pointed out that the school's emergency permits were supposed to last only five days after which district officials were to apply for a standard permit. All permits have now expired because the district hasn't paid its renewal fees. Ross explained the last time she spoke with the district about the situation was a year ago.

School district officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

As long as the district remains in violation, Ross says she can't sign off on any other permits, essentially halting any hope of putting in whale bones at Pescadero Elementary.

About a year ago, Pescadero Elementary leaders caught a lucky break when local scientist Dan Sudran agreed to donate a series of blue whale bones that he salvaged at Bean Hollow State Beach. The blue whale bones were seen as a major find and included the animal's 1,500-pound mandibles, considered to be the largest animal bone on Earth.

School Principal Pat Talbot at the time believed the whale bones, once mounted, could be incorporated into the school's curriculum this academic year with the help of science educators at the University of California, Berkeley. She envisioned making the bones into a kind of outdoor classroom or a play structure for children to climb on.

Sudran said he was disappointed it has taken so long to set up the blue whale bones, which are still sitting in his backyard. A set of gray whale bones he salvaged in September near Pescadero are already being used for education, and he said plenty of other schools would jump at the opportunity to feature blue whale bones.

"These bones should really be in Pescadero - they were found right at a local beach," he said. "I don't mind waiting, but I could easily find some place in San Francisco to put them."