School board approves new pool in spite of higher costs

By Leigh Ann Maze

The Los Gatos-Saratoga High School District board on Nov. 16 unanimously approved construction of a new Olympic-size pool for Saratoga High School, even though bids came in higher than expected and fundraising is about $208,000 short of the needed amount.

SHS Principal Kevin Skelly, who has been the driving force behind the two-year, $1.4 million pool fundraising campaign, said he is very excited. He said he expects the existing, outdated pool facility will be demolished immediately, so the new pool can be completed by swimming season next fall.

Although Skelly and community volunteers have nearly $1.4 million dollars through community fundraising efforts, the new pool carries a price tag of $1.6 million. Skelly calculates they are still about $208,000 short.

In the less than three weeks between the acceptance of the bids on Oct. 29, which came in at almost a half-million dollars too high, and the board meeting on Nov. 16, the community donated more than $380,000, which gave board members enough confidence to give the project a green light.

The school board awarded the bid for construction to Western Water Features, despite the deficit because roughly 90 percent of the funds are available and the board is confident the SHS community will raise the additional amount, said District Superintendent Cynthia Ranii.

Parent Sandy Lewis, Skelly and other volunteers are seeking support from the city of Saratoga, sending letters to parents, and considering a phone-a-thon. They aim to raise the funds needed to build the pool as originally planned, they have made about $170,000 in cost-saving adjustments in case they don't reach this goal.

The cost-savings include a chain-link fence with fewer gates instead of a wrought-iron fence; seven lanes of stripes on the pool's bottom instead of 23; a pool depth of 7 feet instead of 10 feet; a manual heating and filtering system instead of a computerized one; and a reduced deck around the pool. The fundraisers are also looking for ways to reduce the $50,000 cost to dispose of the 3,000 cubic yards of soil that will result when the new pool is dug out, Lewis said.

"I think compromising will limit us later on," Lewis said. "If we are going to spend a million and a half dollars on a pool, let's do it right."

Eventually, the fundraisers hope the pool will pay its own bills with revenue from swim meets and a masters' swim program.

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