Three projects will soon begin operations within the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District after the district’s board of education members unanimously approved the proposals at last week’s general and special meeting.

Those projects are a Sod Project at Orestimba High School’s Stadium, Bonita Elementary School receiving a lighting upgrade and an LED lighting upgrade across NCLUSD’s schools.

The sod and elementary school projects will use the district’s current Measure X bond funding of $287,908.18. Both projects will cost a combined $266,858.37, with the sod costing $194,000 and Bonita’s priced at $72,858.37, leaving the district with $21,049.81 remaining in funding.

Justin Pruett, NCLUSD’s Superintendent, told the Westside Connect that the remaining funds will be allocated towards building potential projects in the future, such as Yolo Career Technical Education Facility, Orestimba getting an all-weather track and TK-5 shade structures once the district receives $5.1 million in bond funding from Measure X. After the measure passed in 2020, NCLUSD was set to receive $25.8 million, but due to the cost/fees of issuance, they were left to receive an estimated $25 million.

However, the district has only received $19.9 million. $19.6 million was used toward previous projects such as Orestimba’s pool and tennis courts, Von Renner Elementary School’s multi-use and transitional kindergarten classrooms and improvements to the restrooms at Hunt Elementary School.

Some of the things that construction of the Sod Project will include:

●     The removal and demolition of the existing sod at Orestimba’s Stadium.

●     Sod installation of maintenance and fertilizing lawn areas.

●     Removing all spoils from school property.

●     Fine grading.

●     Adjusting irrigation heads for full coverage.

●     Soil preparation.

●     Grading the field from crown to existing burb around the track.

●     Top Soil Amendments.

Westside Landscape & Concrete, a landscaping company located in Newman, will be the contractor for the project. After a job opening was posted for contractors to work on the Sod Project, there was a mandatory job walk held on March 5 for interested contractors. Five different contractors submitted their bids.

Each bid varied on a contractor’s availability, with a high bid indicating that the project had a short window to complete. With Westside Landscape & Concrete having the lowest bid, the highest bid was from Joe’s Landscaping at $360,000 while the second lowest bid was $199,500 from CLS Inc, a $5,500 difference from the cost of the Sod Project.

Pruett said construction for the project could happen at some point during this week. Operations for each construction day will begin at 5 a.m. Only Orestimba’s P.E. classes and track and field team will have access to the stadium’s track.

Matt Vargas, the Director of Maintenance & Operations for the district, mentioned at Friday’s special meeting that Westside Landscape & Concrete will be granted three additional days to work on the Sod Project if they are impacted by rain. He expects the project to be done and down by the end of April with a 90-day maintenance period to mow, edge and fertilize the sod until the end of June.

“This project has been one that we’ve been wanting to accomplish for many years for the Newman Crows Landing Unified School District and it’s going to be exciting. The results are going to be celebrated by everyone,” Vargas said.

Pruett said by the time soccer season begins, the field has already deteriorated due to use from the football and flag football teams and P.E. classes. This is different for football and flag football as the field has time to get in decent condition with watering and lack of use before the start of their respective seasons.

“It’s time to regrade it and put in new sod so that by the time our kids get to soccer [season], that it’s still a good surface to play on,” Pruett said.

Bonita’s project will be separate from the districtwide project because the school is located in Crows Landing and uses power from the Turlock Irrigation District. The district will pay for the project’s expenses. The districtwide lighting upgrade is fully funded by PG&E as NCLUSD’s schools located in Newman were eligible for the upgrade due to them using PG&E.

Bonita’s project includes replacing the interior of all buildings except the cafeteria and installing retrofit light fixtures. Exterior lights for all buildings will be replaced by retrofit kits. All the switches for classroom and restroom lights will be replaced with occupancy sensors, while both parking and pole lights located in the center of the basketball area will be replaced with new fixtures.

Additionally, there will be a donation of a 20-foot power pole. Valley 29 Electric, an electrical company located in Newman, will work on the project.

The districtwide LED lighting upgrade project will be done by Green Energy Innovations Inc., a lighting contractor company located in San Leandro. The upgrade will consist of LED light installations across the district, motion sensors and light fixtures.

Vargas said the district wanted to reduce its overall energy use within its schools. He also mentioned that lighting upgrades comply with Assembly Bill 2208. AB 2208, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2022 and went into effect in January 2024, prohibiting the sale and distribution of a base or bayonet base-type compact fluorescent lamp. To begin this year, AB 2208 further banned the sale and distribution of linear or pin-base type compact fluorescent lamps.

One of the notable changes that will come from the project is changing Orestimba’s stadium lights. Currently, the stadium’s lights are made up of 44 Metal Hi-Lite 1500-watt fluorescent bulbs, equaling 66,000 watts used for lighting, according to a document provided about the upgrade. With 44 150-watt LED lighting bulbs installed within the stadium, it will amount to a total of 6,600 watts.

“The state is basically pushing us to go towards LED [lights],” Vargas said. “This upgrade will not only save the district money over time but also cut down on the actual impact of energy use.”

Navtej Hundal is a freelance journalist in Stanislaus County.