Since January, the parking lot construction at Irvington High School has been an ongoing process to resolve the electrical issues that occurred back in October of 2024. The electrical issues caused a power shutdown that led to a day of school closure, preventing school events including a varsity girls volleyball game.

The parking lot is undergoing construction to bury the cables that first caused the electrical generator issue. “We had vandals stealing those cables—many thousands of dollars worth,” explained Principal Hicks. It is easier to bury electrical cable rather than disconnecting it each weekend and holiday to prevent it from being stolen.

After the Measure M bond was passed on the ballot last November, Irvington High School stands as one of the first schools to be remodeled. The generator needs to be there until the process starts. Students, faculty, and administration alike are glad that the issue is being addressed. It has been difficult to have no electricity or heaters on a Monday morning. 

Since the back parking lot is under construction, students and staff share the main parking lot. For teachers in the new building, like Mrs. Jayakumar, it takes significantly longer to arrive at their classrooms: 8 minutes compared to the usual 2 minutes. There is also traffic accumulating in the morning so staff need to arrive earlier to school. Despite these difficulties, students and staff are mostly able to adapt to these changes. There are limited parking spots for some teachers to even park by the horseshoe. 

The entire construction is planned to finish by February 1st, hopefully ushering a fresh new start for the beginning of the year.