District OKs $107,000 for Repairs at School

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has authorized $107,000 for emergency repairs to the electrical system at Corona del Mar High School, where aging lead cables gave out and caused a campus blackout Aug. 16.

The 32-year-old cable deteriorated and allowed water to seep into lines, causing the outage. The school’s main circuit breaker also failed.

It meant 750 feet of high-voltage cable had to be replaced before the power could came back on, said Carolyn Stocker, the school district’s executive director of business services and auxiliary operations.

“There is another piece which should done, but it’s holding its own,” she said. “What you’re seeing is the infrastructure in our schools is aged and in need of replacement.”

The malfunction, which occurred when an air-conditioning contractor threw the switch to turn on the new units, kept the lights out for 15 days.

Classes were not in session, Stocker said, but the problem delayed completion of the air-conditioning project and forced the district to pay premium prices for the work.

“We were paying a higher price because we were paying for overtime,” she said.

Stocker said she will seek authorization to have the other, 500-foot section replaced during the winter school break, at an estimated cost of $40,000.