Foothills Sentry September 2020

Foothills Sentry Page 4 September 2020 MELISSA FOX is an Orange County native, attorney, small businesswoman, and mother who currently serves on the Irvine City Council. Melissa is supported by local firefighters, nurses, teachers, and grocery store workers because she is dedicated to keeping our Orange County communities safe. F O R S T A T E A S S E M B L Y MELISSA FOX O N N O V E M B E R 3 R D , V O T E VOTE NO ON MEASURE AA Ad Paid for by Melissa Fox for State Assembly 2020 Schools are ready and waiting By Andie Mills School has officially begun, but campuses are quiet as stu- dents work online. Orange Uni- fied School District (OUSD), however, continues to ready its campuses and fields for the even- tual return of its students. Though the pandemic caused delays in plan approvals, OUSD Facilities Director Scott Harvey is pleased with the progress thus far, and provided progress updates. Deferred maintenance projects have been completed, including fire alarms at Orange Pre-K and Handy Elementary. A shade struc- ture was erected over the quad at Villa Park Elementary, and the parking lot restriped and slurried. Plexiglass barriers have been provided for every office and classroom, sanitizers are in every classroom, room capacities for adequate social distancing have been determined, and each high school student will be provided a personal deskguard for classes. Level playing field The big news: Fred Kelly Sta- dium is ready for football. To protect the taxpayers’ investment, a new full-time person for the sta- dium, and one for each school, will be hired to take care of the fields. OUSD is in discussion with district cities regarding pub- lic access and use of athletic fa- cilities, e.g., tennis courts, tracks. The funds for the fields were not from Measure S, but were capital improvements. At Orange High, the new Mea- sure S-funded science center is in its final stages, slated to open for students (hopefully) in October. The Little Theater is undergoing a facelift, with new seating, cur- tains, lighting, carpet and paint. The track has been open and available for student use. Heavy city street improvements on Wal- nut helped streamline utilities for the campus. Measure S-Phase 2 design development plans are targeted to be presented to the OUSD Board of Trustees in Oc- tober. The Measure S science center at El Modena should be complet- ed in early spring of 2021. The bid for the aquatics center will go to the OUSD Board on Sept. 10, after which construction may be- gin. The 30-meter pool is sched- uled to open in fall 2021. Thanks to the El Modena Education Foundation, two new scoreboards were purchased for the gym. The final project of ElMo’s Phase 1 was the addition of solar pan- els over the parking lots, which was completed over the summer. ElMo will continue into Measure S-Phase 2 later this year. All wet Heavy rains in the spring sat- urated the soil and dampened progress of the Villa Park High science center, delaying the struc- tural steel phase. Completion is planned for spring of 2021. Crews continued to revamp, restripe, re- slurry the student drop-off for a safer, easier egress and ingress. New trees and over 1,000 indig- enous plants that will thrive in the heat make it aesthetically pleas- ing and welcoming for students. The troublesome track, at 440 meters and designed for non- league meets, should be open in early September. At the Aug. 13 board meeting, VPHS Phase 2 was approved. Construction will include a two-story building with 18 classrooms, designed to take the place of 20 portables. Con- struction documents will be sent to Division of the State Architect for approval; construction is esti- mated to begin in fall 2021. Projects at Canyon High are on schedule. The 70,000-sq.-ft. science center is in the structural steel phase, and slated to open in fall of 2021. The track and field has been completed, its ac- cess is ADA-compliant, and it is available for student use. CHS parent boosters paid for a new football scoreboard that will be added. The CHS Foundation raised $300,000 to renovate the aging gym with new flooring, new bleachers, electrical, paint, bathroom upgrades and ADA upgrades. OUSD will utilize $1 million of Mello-Roos funding to help complete the project by early December. (OUSD has also committed Mello-Roos funds for projects at surrounding Anaheim schools.) Now, as we all know, the schools just need students. Shawn Ricker, 16, an honors student and drum major at El Modena High School, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout this sum- mer. A Scout in Troop 850, Rick- er’s Eagle project was building a height-adjustable podium for Civil Air Patrol Squadron 68 in Costa Mesa. He is a member of that squadron, holding the rank of cadet master sergeant. Due to the COVID restrictions, Ricker lost his volunteer help, but made up for it with “family resources.” He has been active in scouting since 2012, and plans to use the leader- ship skills he has developed as an officer in the U.S. Army. Fred Kelly Stadium Villa Park High School track and field – awaiting sign-offs Orange High School science center – final stage Canyon High School track and field El Modena High School parking structures with solar panels Photos by Aaron Jacoby