”
Red Phone, my children attend Sobrato High School, and we’re
wondering when the student parking lot construction (solar panel
project) will be done.
”
“Red Phone, my children attend Sobrato High School, and we’re wondering when the student parking lot construction (solar panel project) will be done. We were originally told the end of September, but it looks like hardly anything’s been done. Traffic around the school is a nightmare and a hazard to the students. Also, my son paid extra for a senior reserved parking spot which he now can’t use. When they attend football games at Live Oak, same problem, as that parking lot is under construction also. Why block off the parking lot when nothing’s getting done? Why couldn’t they have done this in the summer? I say give up and start over next summer.”
Red Phone: Dear Irritated Parent, Red Phone contacted Bonnie Tognazzini, assistant superintendent of business services, who said district administrators are aware of and regret the inconvenience to students and staff at both Sobrato and Live Oak high schools as a result of the installation of solar panel canopies in the parking lots.
“Unfortunately, the district encountered a delay in receipt of funding notification for the project which, in turn, delayed the start of construction,” she said. “As soon as funding confirmation was received, the project began. We agree that using more of the summer months when students were not in school would have been preferable, but it was important to have the funding source confirmed before moving ahead with the project.”
Your student will get to use his spot come January when the project is expected to be complete. While students and staff are away on the winter break, the electrical system will be tested to avoid any inconveniences that could happen when hooking up the panels.
Tognazzini added, “the solar panels will provide significant energy savings over the next 20 years, and the district will be able to sell any unused energy credits, which will also be a source of funds for the district.”
Before erecting the columns that the panels will sit atop, the below-the-surface work was being done and construction workers also had to wait for pieces to be delivered to the site, thus making it seem as if progress wasn’t being made.
As for why Sobrato’s student lot is totally off-limits, the school district said it was done to avoid any safety hazards for student drivers that they would run into parking among active construction.
Live Oak’s parking lot is shaped in a way that made it possible to close off a portion and not all spots, the district said.
Red Phone checked the school district’s website to find the phone number for its facility director or any extra information on the solar project, but after a click on “facilities/construction,” Red Phone had to laugh when the only thing it said was, “under construction.”
Looks the school district could use some constructive criticism, good caller: Reimburse all students’ parking fees.
