"All these things converge into a very serious situation," said Paul Novack, a parent and local mayor who in 2000 helped draw public attention to the violations, particularly at Miami Beach High.

Today, Miami Beach High has 364 outstanding violations.

School Board Chairman Michael Krop said the board didn't know how serious the problems were until fire marshals got involved.

"I can't make an excuse for why they weren't addressed. I don't think there is an excuse," he said. "But when we discovered it, we took action."

The district, however, has had seven inspectors who visited schools annually, citing everything from broken gates to missing floor tiles to structural deficiencies.

Every year, detailed reports were delivered to school board offices. Board members had only to open a box and pull a file to learn of the deficiencies.

The district's inspectors also funneled the information to the maintenance department, school principals and the construction office. But year after year, at school after school, they found the same deficiencies, overlooked and unfixed.

"We've been notifying every department . . . about what needs to be fixed," said John DiBenedetto, who oversees the inspectors.

Shari Lee, the district's capitol budget director, said the system has spent millions correcting violations at the same time it tackled renovation and addition projects at schools countywide. But Hevia said life-safety projects were frequently scaled back.

In 1988, after Dade County voters approved a $980 million referendum for school construction, the district planned to fix many deficiencies. But when money was tight, officials cut life-safety work.

"It always became a shorter list," Hevia said.

The district's maintenance department also contributed repair delays.

A 2001 audit of the district's maintenance department found a 10-inch thick report, containing 37,000 open work orders, some dated as early as 1997, largely ignored by maintenance directors.

Part of the problem is that in the past 10 years, 158 specialist trade persons have been cut even as dozens of new schools opened.

"The failure is in the follow-up," said school board member Frank Cobo, who was elected to the board in 2001 and has been requesting updates on life-safety repairs.

The audit also found maintenance relies heavily on overtime and lacks a system to prioritize projects, assigning work in a "somewhat random order" based on the availability of staff and supplies. And maintenance sometimes spends too much on simple tasks - replacing a door cost the district $1,110, repairing broken sprinkler heads cost $8,061, painting handrails cost $9,697.

"I am overwhelmed by the bureaucracy of it all, the inability to make the right decisions quickly," said Ed Easton, who chairs a state-appointed oversight board studying school construction and maintenance.

Stierheim is in negotiations with a private company to oversee maintenance.

In recent months, the school system has studied the safety needs at 185 schools, and has spent $14.6 million installing new fire alarms and In at least dozens of cases, little more than a screwdriver would have solved the problem. sprinklers in schools. Fifteen schools are getting equipment now and 37 might next year.

"We've got to keep going until all the work is done," district Facilities Chief Suzanne Marshall said. 'Year by year, we'll just have to keep plugging away and doing the work."

WAITING FOR REPAIRS

Meanwhile, 75-year-old Miami High waits for more repairs.

Lopez, the principal, walks the halls of a school he once attended, noting missing fire extinguishers and corroded classroom walls. There's a hole the size of a basketball on the front of the school; someone covered it with a metal grate.

Roof leaks have warped the school stage. Teachers lay newspaper down when it rains to keep students from slipping.

Lopez, who has worked for the district for 29 years, said his requests for help often go unanswered.

"Sometimes you do all the paperwork and everything that you have to do, and then they say there are no funds to do it," he said. 'Miami High has been put on the back burner when it comes to upkeep."

Board members say they're committed to repairing the violations.

"I don't want to be around if one child gets burned," Cobo said.

"Forget about a school or more than one child. One is too many."