Willow Glen Resident
News
High school will get night lights, making games in the dark possible
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
Willow Glen High School is going to have night games.
The San Jose Unified School District board voted unanimously on May 24 to approve the installation of permanent stadium lights at five of its high schools, including Willow Glen.
This final meeting marked the 17th time since December 2006 the district has discussed the proposal throughout five different communities.
Several board members said they had walked the school campus and adjacent neighborhoods before agreeing to approve the lights.
"It's an important issue for our schools," said San Jose Unified School District board member Pam Foley, who represents Willow Glen High School.
The project consists of the installation of four 80-foot-tall stadium lights. The infrastructure is already in place.
The lights will use photometric technology. Each light will shine down into the field instead of across the fields or a resident's yard.
District officials said the goal of adding stadium lights to the high school campuses is twofold: To offer the community a way to rally behind its local high school and create an opportunity for the high school to have more home games.
The district's school construction manager, Ty Williams, said the lights would be used for only 10 games per school year, including football, soccer, lacrosse and cross-country meets, with the lights going out at 10 p.m.
Along with the 10 events a year, an additional 10 night practices with the lights going out at 7 p.m. will also be included, although their impact is less than significant since there would be no crowds or noise associated with them, Williams said. Outside organizations using the field would not have access to the facility at night.
Consequences for breaching the 10-game agreement will lead to review by the board of education and reduction of the number of events the following year for the specific athletic team, Williams said.
According to Williams, it will cost $250,000 per site to install stadium night lights, with the funding coming from reimbursed state bond money.
