LAKEPORT, Calif. – Students heading back to classes at the Lakeport Unified School District's schools this week will notice some new upgrades to the campuses, including a large new solar array and a new landscaping project.
District staff has been hard at work over the last few weeks preparing the elementary, middle and high schools for students' return.
Work has included repairs, prepping floors, painting and stenciling, mowing lawns, deep cleaning carpets and waxing floors.
Larger projects also have been under way.
Superintendent Erin Hagberg told the district board last week that stamped concrete and new landscaping were being installed between the Marge Alakszay Center multipurpose building and Terrace Middle School.
Previously, rocks had been part of the landscaping between the two buildings, but those rocks had become an “attractive nuisance,” Hagberg told the board. Students were climbing on the rocks, which also were being thrown through windows.
The new concrete and landscaping – which includes trees and shrubs – were to be finished on Wednesday, ahead of the Thursday beginning of school, Hagberg reported.
The area also will now include a memorial area honoring late Boardmember Brad Gatton, she said.
One of the most noticeable changes to the campus is a large new solar array located next to Terrace Middle School.
Hagberg told Lake County News the district has a power purchase agreement with Solar City so it did not purchase the solar arrays.
“We currently have more than 2,400 panels located on the LUSD campus that help to power the three schools and the district office,” she said.
The district is expected to cut its annual electric bill by 33 percent and save roughly $60,000 per year, Hagberg said.
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