Exterior lights not coming to Calabasas High School

Homeowners concerned about new lights on athletic fields at Calabasas High School shouldn’t worry, according to officials with Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD).

Contrary to popular belief, lights and loudspeakers will not be added to the fields, which are located on a hill above the school’s football stadium and used for baseball and softball games and varsity and junior varsity football practice.

"We’ve had some kind of miscommunication about that. There is no lighting," said John Fitzpatrck, LVUSD superintendent.

Nervous homeowners told the LVUSD Board of Education last month they opposed lights and sound systems on the upper fields. Fitzpatrick said construction is underway to install electrical wiring for new scoreboards and pitching machines only.

The electrical wiring will cost $100,000, according to the school district. Each field will receive a new scoreboard.

"We as school would not have any need for lights," said Jay Guidetti, Calabasas principal. "There are no night baseball games."

The school has a lighted football stadium, which is also used for night soccer games.

The upper fields, used for daytime events only, are located next to homes on Black Bird Way and Sparrow Dell Drive.

Guidetti said a fundraiser is being planned to raise money for the scoreboards.

A benefit softball game in memory of Mike Bevilacqua, a CHS baseball player who died in a jet ski accident last summer, could be used to help raise the money, Guidetti said.

– John Loesing