Board approves Torrey Pines Facility improvements in a “do-over” vote
Public shows support for building a swimming pool at Torrey Pines
Torrey Pines swimming pool to be on the agenda for July 20, 2023 Board Meeting
SDUHSD Board Approves Phase One Athletic Facility Improvements at Torrey Pines
On June 15, 2023, a Board majority (3-2) voted No on the approval of Phase One of the Torrey Pines High School athletic capital improvement plan, which includes improvements to athletic fields, bleachers, tennis courts, and other improvements. Phan Anderson and I voted Yes on approval of Phase One, but were outvoted.
The No vote was a mistake. At the Special Meeting on June 23, 2023, we fixed the mistake, but not without consequence.
The No vote on June 15, 2023 delayed approval, as I previously reported in my last Board Summary, and was due to a single public comment claiming that District staff was ignoring the law (Title IX) and did not consider input from coaches. Neither was true, as was shown in this Special Meeting. The No vote caused as much as a two-week delay in the project, which means that the tennis courts may not be ready for the championship match and the girls softball field improvements may not be ready for the opening game.
I highly recommend anyone interested in Board governance and our Board’s decision-making process to watch the June 23, 2023 Special Meeting. It is less than one hour and can be found here. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFqzycdN0A]
Public shows support for building a swimming pool at Torrey Pines
Members of the public came out loud and clear at the Special Meeting to voice their opinion for construction of a swimming pool at Torrey Pines High School. Student athletes and their parents gave impassioned reasons why pools need to be built. They talked about late hours, long drives, losing sleep, balancing schoolwork with their sports, the inequity of a program with no home, and the loneliness of borrowed pools without cheering fans and school spirit to keep them going. Their comments are worth watching. You can’t help but be moved by their commitment to their sports under difficult circumstances.
The prior Board voted unanimously to approve the planning and development of one swimming pool at Torrey Pines and one in the Northern part of our district, either at La Costa Canyon High School or at the District’s property at Calle Barcelona. With that unanimous vote, the District administration worked for nearly two years to progress those projects forward.
However, three new members of our Board (Trustees Viskanta, Smith, and Anderson) have not officially opined on building pools, and the Board needs to approve the final contract, which is expected to come before the board near the end of 2023.
While the District Administration continues to work on the athletic projects at Torrey Pines High School, it is important that the Board reaffirm its intention to build the pool at Torrey Pines. Planning a construction project of this magnitude takes a full staff and hundreds of work hours, plus money spent on outside architects and consultants. If there is an intention to cancel the pools, it is best to convey that to our staff as soon as possible, and not at the final hour when it comes to the board for a vote on the contract. I have asked that this topic be placed on the Agenda for the July 20, 2023 Board meeting so we can call the question.
Any parents, students, or citizens in our District who feel it is important that we follow through on our commitment to build pools should plan on attending this meeting. It is through a strong show of public commitment that our Board will know you support a vote to move forward. If the Board decides not to build this pool now, I do not think we ever will.
Aquatic Sports facts:
We have over 750 aquatic athletes across every school in our district
90% of other public CA high schools have pools. In comparison, Poway has 5 pools and Grossmont has 13 pools
Water sports are expensive. Other sports can fundraise, Aquatics is Extremely Limited in their fundraising ability because they do not have official team pools.
• The LCC Girls Water Polo program costs: $350 to play, plus $90 for a suit and an extra $80 (goggles and team gear).
• LCC Boy’s Water Polo costs: $250 to play, $50 suit, an extra $100 (ball, goggles and team gear)
• TPHS Boys and Girls Water Polo costs: $450 + extras
• SDA Boys and Girls Water Polo costs: $275 + extras
• CCA Boys and Girls Water Polo costs: $400 - 450 + extras
We are unable to:
Host a snack bar
Sell Swag on premises
Host a Tournament (major fundraising opportunities lost)
Sell banners advertising Sponsors that we could hang in the facility
Hang posters to cheer on Seniors, our CIF banners, or Team Spirit Logos
Do dryland workouts- Girls' Water Polo was told in November that they cannot use the YMCA outdoor area to do their workouts anymore.
Host State and CIF playoff games. Girls 2022 Water Polo team qualified for a HOME game and were told our pool was unable to host, so they traveled to LA and lost (they lost home-field advantage, the ability to have fans attend, the ability to raise money at the contest, girls were travel weary, and refs were Home field slanted).
Avoid late pool times due to sharing with swim lessons, club swim, and other teams at off-site pools where we rent lanes. Other schools with pools have practice in the daytime usually right after school or during 6/7 period as an actual class.
Avoid the expense and time for travel to places far from school which takes time, gas money, and a driving parent or student to get athletes to and from off-site pools. CCA travels to Del Norte High School and Cathedral. TP: Poway District pools and UCSD, SDA: Agua Norte in Carlsbad and Boys & Girls Club in Solana Beach, LCC- YMCA in Encinitas.
Store equipment securely and gather in a Team room or office for team meetings and reviewing game films.
Build a highly effective program due to being vagabonds. Other aquatics programs have feeder clubs that help build the programs. Without a home base, our high schools are unable to build their talent pool.
(Thank you to the team Moms who helped put this data together.)
It’s time for a real commitment to this project. Our Pool Committee has been working for over ten years to see construction of pools. Many of their children have graduated and they are still working to see a pool built. Let’s not waste any more time or delay this further.