Almaden Resident

News

Stadium lights could mean Friday night football at high schools

By Anne Gelhaus

Supporters of athletic programs at Leland and Pioneer high schools are hoping Friday night lights will soon shine on home games at their respective playing fields.

Both campuses last week hosted meetings to gather community input on the San Jose Unified School District's proposal to install stadium lighting at the fields of five district high schools. San Jose High Academy already has stadium lighting on its athletic field.

Not everyone is a fan of the idea, however.

District spokeswoman Karen Fuqua said homeowners near the campuses are not so much worried about light pollution in their neighborhoods as they are about noise pollution from the public address system announcers would use during home games. Residents have also expressed concern about increased traffic in the area before and after night games, Fuqua said.

To mitigate these concerns, Fuqua said, the district is considering increasing school traffic patrols at night games and having student athletes pick up trash in the streets around campus after games.

On average, Fuqua says, the lights will be used at 10-12 school sporting events each year. Other sports leagues that rent high school fields in the district would not use the stadium lights, she added.

Joe Consul, president of Leland's athletic boosters club, said having stadium lights would allow the school's football teams to play five or six night games on their home field each season. Other sports teams could take advantage of the lights during the remainder of the school year, Consul added.

"It would create a better opportunity for parents to enjoy watching their kids play football and other sports," said Consul, whose two daughters have played volleyball for Leland. "Getting to a Friday afternoon game is difficult for working families."

Installing stadium lighting would give Leland a home-field advantage, Consul added.

"Right now, Leland plays its night games at other sites. This would keep kids closer to home."

Fuqua said the SJUSD board will approve stadium lighting on a campus-by-campus basis. The estimated cost of installing stadium lights at all five high schools is $1 million, she added, with funding coming from Measure C, a $165 million bond approved by voters in 1997.

The issue should go before the board in March, Fuqua said.

Last week's community meetings were the first in a series of three set for all five high schools. The meetings are part of the district's information-gathering process to ensure the project meets the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and to determine what, if any, impact the lighting may have on the environment and any mitigation measures that may be necessary.

Leland's next meeting is set for Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria. Pioneer's next meeting is Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. in the school's performing arts center.