After big splash, Folsom pool shuts

By Deb Kollars - dkollars@sacbee.com

Last Updated 6:24 am PST Friday, February 29, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

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Vista del Lago High School can't afford to heat or operate the $3 million, 14-lane swimming pool that it completed earlier this month. Randall Benton / rbenton@sacbee.com

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The big new pool at Vista del Lago, Folsom's newest high school, should be filled with shouts and splashes from P.E. classes and athletes on the swim team.

Instead, the $3 million pool sits unused in silent testimony to the budget crisis unfolding at schools across the state.

"It's a shame," said Joel Garceau, Vista del Lago's swim coach. "It's a fantastic pool. It could be the crown jewel of the school."

The Folsom Cordova Unified School District built the pool as a much-anticipated amenity at Vista del Lago, a striking campus built on a hill east of Folsom with a view of Folsom Lake.

The $100 million school, which features contemporary architecture and ceiling-mounted LCD projectors in every classroom, opened last fall. The 14-lane pool was completed in early February, Principal John Dixon said.

Shortly afterward, the district determined it could not afford to heat or operate the pool. The 23 members of the school's swimming and diving team ride a bus to practice at a city pool several miles away.

Debbie Bettencourt, deputy superintendent, said the pool's opening came amid a "spending chill" in the district. Like school systems across the state, Folsom is bracing for possible budget reductions next year because of the state's fiscal crisis. The district is studying how to reduce spending by $9 million if cuts materialize. "We are looking at every single expenditure," she said. "Every dollar we save this year will help us next year."

Operating the pool, she said, would take $150,000 a year. Heating it for two months would cost $25,000. The district and the city of Folsom had planned to share the costs and use of the pool, but a joint operating agreement has not yet been written. Even if the city paid half, Bettencourt said, she is not sure the district could cover the rest.

The Vista del Lago swim team got a taste of the new pool when swim season opened earlier this month. The pool was heated, and in a joyful scene on Feb. 13, Garceau lined his swimmers along the edge and gave the countdown for their inaugural leap into the water.

A week later, the heat went off and the team started commuting to the city pool.

About the writer:

Call The Bee's Deb Kollars, (916) 321-1090. Bee staff writer Bob Walter contributed to this report.

Members of the Vista del Lago High School swim team board a bus in Folsom on Thursday to practice to practice at a city pool several miles away. Randall Benton / rbenton@sacbee.com

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John Veit, 14, a member of the Vista del Lago High School swim team, surfaces briefly during Thursday's practice at Lembi Community Park Aquatic Center in Folsom. Randall Benton / rbenton@sacbee.com

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