Tracy Press

According to this writer, the condition of the Tracy High locker rooms — and the need for repairs — is not a matter of one favoring school above the other.

EDITOR,

I am disappointed by some of the comments made by West High School parents and students in regards to the discussion about the Tracy High School locker room and renovation project (tracypress.com/content/view/14411/2242/).

How can you, as a parent of any child, not look at those pictures of the Tracy High sports facilities and be disgusted? How can you not think that the children deserve better? 

This is not a Tracy vs. West discussion. This is about getting both schools what they need for the kids to learn and experience high school in a positive and safe environment. This is about helping them get the best out of their schools and become upstanding citizens who contribute to our society. This is about the promise that if we voted for the bond that benefited both schools, our problems (that have been brought up for about 20 years) would be fixed.

Yes, we are "whining" that we want what was promised to us in the way we all voted for it. We had no objections when others whined for years that West was not built with all the amenities that were promised. I am glad there is a beautiful pool and stadium. The kids deserved it a long time ago. 

But we at Tracy High also deserve to have our renovations. Our gym/locker room renovation project should be part of that. 

The Tracy Press pictures do not do justice to the conditions. They are worse than you have seen. Go in and take a look for yourself, and don’t forget to take a nice long breath and smell the wonderful aroma. Look out for the algae on the floors, exposed wires, piping and rusty metal in the bathrooms.

It actually reminds me of watching a TV show set in the projects where drug addicts hang out. I know you would not want your child to be in these disgusting conditions.  

Yes, our West classroom building is finally being rebuilt — only after being deemed uninhabitable for years. Yes, we are now going to get new classrooms, something well-deserved for a school that is about 80 years older than West High. 

All we are asking is that the locker room and gym facility fit into that plan, sooner than later, as it is a health hazard for our children. How can you deny Tracy High students that?

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written by newsflash , April 30, 2008

hey hey, what do you know -- both schools are in tough shape! but west was built in the early 1990s... tracy's had a lot more time to fall apart and rot. don't worry wolf pack -- your time will come, too.

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written by newsflash , April 30, 2008

i hear michelle also deplores stuff at water polo games.

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written by B-dub , April 30, 2008

This is not a THS/West discussion. It's a THS/TUSD discussion. I've seen over the years how THS gets treated by the district. A backseat for everything. You'd think that district admin were getting bonus checks for denying renovations to THS in the past. I wouldn't put it past them. I'll bet they had really good catered lunches in that neat building on Lowell at the expense of THS.

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written by thsaerobicsclass , May 01, 2008

i'm a sophomore at tracy high and i know what the locker rooms are like, yes they are bad, but people really need to understand the fact that all tracy high REALLY NEED is just to have everything cleaned up. we honestly only want to have a nice, and clean enviornment. yes, the lockers are disgusting, but we don't need complete replacements, all we really need is a clean place. my PE class has been discussing the issue lately, and we were saying how all we want is nothing more than something clean. many students now, and the huindreds more to come would truely apprecate it if the school board could just clean up the rotten, moldy, and rusty falling apart lockers and locker rooms, because it's DISGUSTINGGG.

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written by whs , May 01, 2008

i remember when i heard about someone complaning about how old THS was, then they bought that nice digital sign... good spending... and THS took a back seat to what? it looks like TUSD just doesnt have the money, it took them 12 years to finish a school? WHS isnt their "new baby" it was an incomplete now over crowded school that just added to the wear and tear of the sports facilities at THS (remember the football field this year). Its not WHS gets more or THS gets more, its the fact it takes awhile for anyone to get money because of cuts. and BTW, why are there burn marks in the locker room, i though WHS was the bad school, but we dont have any burn marks in our locker rooms, just our bath rooms.

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written by smart person , May 01, 2008

i say we just give Tracy High to another school district and forget about them, there annoying anyways. I didn't see any change in there locker rooms from last year to this year, so now why are they complaining? They can say what they want but stop being upset about West being a superior school, new, nice, and has the DIVERSITY to not only have the ugliest gang bangers but also the smartest AP students that pass at much higher rates then the nation. not to mention the space and engineering acad that's API sh*ts on tracy highs API score. Plus our football teams worst year in 8 years was equal to tracys best!

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written by smart person , May 01, 2008

and aerobics class? come on burn some calories! do some real PE and run around and play dodgeball or sumtin

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written by macparent , May 01, 2008

I think you all are missing the point. It is simple, we are not getting what we voted for in the bond measure. It is a simple as that.

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written by Shelly2 , May 01, 2008

I think the water polo issue you are referring to would be the fact that Tracy High partailly renovated their racing pool with a new gutter system. However, when a deck level gutter system is installed there is a recommended width of that gutter to insure that the water overflowing into the system is captured by that gutter and then runs back through the filtration system. Unfortunately, the decision was made to cut corners and "save money". So they did not make the gutters with the proper width and now the water continuously runs over the gutter and over onto the decking. It causes the deck to always be wet and therefore unsafe. It also wastes water and money! These decision makers are brilliant!

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written by B-dub , May 01, 2008

whs and smart person must be employees of West. Before Measure E was approved by the residents of Tracy, THS had no hope of having anything funded because the voters on the west side of Tracy were saying "Why should I pay to have THS rebuilt when my child won't even go to that school?". That's the mentality of the majority of the parents who live on the west side. So what did they change the second time for Measure E? They added the completion of the athletic field and a pool for West High. This time Measure E passed but only after West High was guaranteed something in the deal.

Parts of THS were declared unsafe for years but still TUSD admin allowed students to occupy those areas. Did TUSD tell anyone about that? I don't think so. TUSD has known for years that THS was in serious disrepair but did little to alleviate the problem.

West High parents act like the sibling who cries "Mommy, mommy, if THS is going to get one, I want one too".

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written by whs , May 02, 2008

naw im a student, but very much involved in sports and can articulate well (hope that wasnt to big of a word!)

and the "mommy mommy" comment seems to make no sense since we are finally getting one, so what do we have to complain about? And every school deserves to have proper sport facilities (except those schools in stockton), I was just saying that the locker room situation has not changed for tracy high, but now you bring it up.

I believe it is apparent from articles like this that the situation is TRACY HIGH parents act like the sibling who cries "Mommy, mommy, if WHS is going to get one, I want one too"

makes more sense if you can get out of your shell and think about it.

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written by get your facts straight , May 02, 2008

This comment is directed towards SMART PERSON. I guess this person isn't so smart after all. According to the state facts: West High 2006 API base score was 691 compared to Trach High's 703. The 2007 Growth API score was 671 with a -15 point growth between the years 2006-2007. Compare that to Tracy High's score of 704. Sure it is only one point growth from 2006, but it is still 33 points above West High thus showing that Tracy High has better scores than West. That is why we have IB and not AP.

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written by get your facts straight , May 02, 2008

The programs at Tracy High also surpass the quality and prestige of those at West High. Especially the performing arts and IB academy

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written by Shelly2 , May 02, 2008

OK people, this whole letter that has instigated all of these comments was about Measure E and the fact that THS is not getting what they voted for. It has nothing to do with which schools have what scores. Nothing to do with which schools deserve what. It ONLY has to do with the fact that THS has tried to get their facilities updated and renovated as needed for an old school. The last measure that was put on the ballot to do this was not passed due to the fact many WHS people did not have a vested interest in it. So THS was told that if they wanted their school fixed they would have to come up with a measure that included all schools. Measure E was drawn up to fix issues for all. It passed about 2 or so years ago. We are now seeing some of the wonderful things to come from that. HOWEVER, now they are changing the phases of the measure and the phase 2 of the measure was to include the locker room/gym renovation. Now, phases 2-7 have been re-drawn and nowhere is this project stated. That is the issue. TUSD is invalidating our vote. You all as voters should be insulted by their actions.

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written by B-dub , May 04, 2008

In the end, THS will again be the loser of Measure E. West will be finished completely before THS even realizes it. The TUSD "Taj Mahal" refuses to look bad so they will do all, and spend all, that they can to make sure West brings out the sparkle. I don't blame West, it's all the doings of TUSD and that's Franco and the rest of the school board.