Alameda Unified history

The class of 1878, totalling nine students, was the first to graduate from Alameda High School.

1925: The Carl Werner-designed campus now known as Historic Alameda High School is built.

1933: In the wake of a massive Long Beach earthquake that damaged or destroyed more than 200 Southern California schools, California lawmakers pass the Field Act, which sets earthquake safety standards for schools.

Efforts to address seismic safety issues on the old campus have been underway since 1935, a decade after the school opened to students.

1939: A retrofit of the school’s science wing is proposed but never carried out.

The building is remodeled in 1965 to meet fire-life safety standards, but no retrofit work is done.

1968: Voters reject a ballot measure to fund the replacement of “unsafe” schools.

1973: Voters reject a $7.9 million bond measure and a complementary funding measure to replace Porter and Haight schools and to build a new Alameda High School on Bay Farm Island.

1977: Alameda voters elect a trio of new school board members who vow to save Old Alameda High School; they cancel a demolition contract approved by board members months earlier and hire a superintendent, Clarence R. Kline, who pledges to save the school.

February 1978: A factfinding committee presents a report on other potential school and community uses for the old buildings.

2004: Alameda voters pass the Measure C bond, which promises to fund seismic repairs at Historic Alameda High.

February 2012: In a report, a structural engineer tells schools officials the old high school buildings that haven’t been retrofitted are at risk of collapsing during a strong earthquake and recommends fencing and retrofit work.