By Mary O’KEEFE

Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) will be going through some changes to the campus that will affect parents, students and community members. Many people use the track at CVHS after school hours to exercise but the track and field will soon be closed as construction begins on new stadium seating.

“It will be closed to the public,” confirmed CVHS Principal Christine Benitez.

The construction is scheduled to take nine months to complete so hopefully the area will reopen before graduation in 2024. For most of the school year the school should be able to hold regular sport and physical education programs when school representatives are present.

The construction base of operations will be the coaches’ parking lot, which is the most southern parking lot on Ramsdell Avenue south of the gym.

Neighbors might also be hearing some alarms coming from the school while exterior doors are being fitted with alarms. A flyer has been distributed to nearby neighbors to let them know of the construction at the track and field and notifying them of the door alarms.

“In an effort to enhance security measures, we will be installing localized alarms on exterior doors throughout the school. These alarms will sound whenever one of these doors is opened. Please be aware that you may hear these alarms during the installation process this summer. Starting in August, there may be instances where a student or staff member unintentionally triggers the alarm, leading to its activation,” the flyer stated.

And there will be changes to the open lunch program beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Since CVHS opened its doors as a high school in the mid 1950s and before when it was a middle school – Clark Jr. High School – the campus had an open lunch policy. This allowed students to leave campus for the about 40-minute lunch break. There was an effort in 2011 to close the campus for lunch but students, and parents, objected citing limited number of food kiosks and limited seating; however, times have changed and closing the campus for lunch has been revisited and gained more local support.

The decision, at present, allows junior and senior students to leave campus for lunch while freshmen and sophomores stay on the grounds. Leaving campus is a privilege that is subject to students who are in “good standing,” said Benitez. Anticipating the increased number of students on the campus during lunch, the school purchased more tables and increased its covered seating and has added more kiosks for food to be purchased. In addition food tastings have been held with district kitchens and a pizza oven was purchased. Four times a year districts are allowed to bring in food from other areas, like from food trucks, so Benitez is also looking into that possibility.

“I am also looking at a Barbecue with the Principal Day when I flip hamburgers,” she said.

Due to the limited open campus policy only two doors will be active as exits – one at the band room off Ramsdell Avenue and one just east of the school’s front door, near the library. All student identification cards will be scanned as students enter and exit the school.

All of this is to make the campus safer in a changing world. Last school year at least two at first unidentified people were able to walk onto campus. Neither people had legitimate reasons to be there. Fortunately neither incident led to threats to students; however, parents voiced their concern for the school’s security leading to the recent decisions.