Pleasant Valley High School anticipates new renovations as the district expands. Unfortunately, construction of the high school has been difficult with the majority of funds going towards the completion of Forest Grove Elementary.
Renovations to the high school took a year and a half. Some of the biggest changes were the addition of a new gym, three-story science tower and the new commons. New bathrooms, roof replacement and a new wall for the swimming pool were also part of the renovations
There are still parts of the school that seek renovations. The school has set up a 5 year renovation process, which includes the Industrial Technology Lab, restrooms on the second floor and classroom modernization.
Future projects within the next 5 years include: painting the track surface, boiler replacement, replacing the artificial turf on the soccer and football fields and replacing/addressing various sections of the roofs.
Renovations like these are not cheap. “We have set aside 100 thousand dollars per year for the next five years,” said superintendent Brian Strusz. Strusz also included that the anticipated cost of the Industrial Technology Lab is around 120 thousand dollars and the anticipated cost of the second floor bathrooms is around 400 thousand dollars.
Forest Grove Elementary, a new addition to the Pleasant Valley School District, began construction in the spring of 2019 and is not expected to be finished until 2021-2022. Most funds for construction have been put into the building of this new school, until it is finished, funding high school renovations will be difficult.
Unfortunately, the out-dated parts of the school have affected many students. “The [second floor] bathrooms usually have toilets out-of-order and there is never soap in there,” said Senior Vanessa Cooney. This has caused frustration with teachers as well. “Usually kids walk to the newer ones then get yelled at by the teacher because they were gone for so long,” Cooney continued.
The unrenovated parts of the building can be inconvenient for both students and staff, as most are attracted to the newly renovated sections. However, with the plans of renovating these bathrooms in the next year, hopefully this issue can be resolved.
The process of renovating and expanding the district will take years on top of unexpected complications that may occur. Until all construction is complete, the school will continue to make renovations to better accommodate students and staff.
