Schools get ready to open

With little more than track lines and the visitor's bleachers left, the $1.8 million upgrade to Bob Reid Stadium at Anderson Union High School should be completed shortly after school opens on Aug. 17, according to district Superintendent Tim Azevedo.

The stadium upgrade includes new home (west side) bleachers, refurbished visitors' bleachers, new restrooms and concessions stand. On the field, the school has a new all-weather track and the south end of the football field was raised two feet to bring it to level, Azevedo added.

The track was to sport Anderson's blue and gold school colors, but plans for gold lines were scrapped for white ones to coincide with national high school track standards.

The white stripes have other advantages, according to Brian Hodges of Atlas Track and Tennis, the company hired to paint stripes on the track.

"The gold would fade - darker colors fade more quickly," Hodges said. "It would also be harder to see the lines in low light."

New trophy cabinets in the gymnasium foyer are another new improvement at AUHS. The large wooden cabinets were funded by the AUHS Centennial reunion organization, which donated $17,000 to the high school. While the reunion group raised most of the funds through a golf tournament in June, AUHS Principal Scott Booth selected the cabinets as the gift that would best suit the high school, reunion organization co-chair Jean King said.

Into the cabinets will go memorabilia collected over the years from championship teams, trophies, and graduates who went on to play Division I sports in college as well as professional sports, former AUHS football coach Bob Reid said.

About $2,000 of the total was donated by AUHS alumni as they placed reservations for the centennial reunion, King said.

Glass has yet to be installed in the cabinets, however, and King added that she hoped more donations from alumni will defray the remaining costs. More information about the centennial celebration, Sept. 3-5, is available online at www.andersonunionhighschoolcentennial.com.

West Valley modernization

Plans for $6.7 million of improvements at West Valley High School, begun nearly six years ago, are back on the district's agenda, according to district superintendent Tim Azevedo. First priority improvements include heating and air conditioning repairs, re-roofing, fire alarm replacement, bulk tank and gas line repair, and the redesign of the south parking lot where students are typically picked up by their parents.

Once the plans are approved by the state's Department of School Architecture, the district has four years to manage the funding and begin the project, Azevedo said.

When the project actually begins, however, is reliant on funding and the need of the project.

"All modernization plans have lagged because of budget concerns," district trustee Ron Brown said. "It will depend on money. The state is cutting back on school finances. We'll continue to undertake the project as funds will allow ... as prioritized by the superintendant and the principal of West Valley."

To pay for the project, Azevedo said the district would owe 40 percent, while state funds could be secured for 60 percent of the cost. The district would pay for the improvements from a district construction fund or through a bond election, he added.