Palm Springs Unified School District upgrades campuses

The pandemic may have put a halt to most things, but not the construction at schools across Palm Springs Unified School District.

The district spent nearly 66 million dollars over the course of the last two years for necessary upgrades at its campuses.

Taking most of the bill, Palm Springs High School which students said, looks completely different when walking through the front gates.

New construction includes gym enhancements, storm drains being installed to prevent future flooding, new landscaping at the school's entrance, and a completely new auxiliary gym, along with other major improvements.

10-foot storm drains were necessary to be installed after principal Bian Hendra said about 30 classes would flood whenever it would rain forcing students to be relocated. The new drains prevent this from happening.

The auxiliary gym is an extra plus for students who participate in sports.

“This gym is really nice it has a smaller fan section. So we don’t have huge crowds we can use this for sporting events also,” said Hendra on the auxiliary gym.

At Desert Hot Springs High School, there is a new career and technical education building. It includes roll-up doors, new equipment, and many amenities for public safety courses and other technical education courses.

Solar panels have been installed at Sunny Sands Elementary, Landau Elementary, and the District Administration Center.

Solar energy is still to come at Rio Vista Elementary School and Mt. San Jacinto High School.

Within the last year, there have been a number of HVAC projects involving putting energy management system controls through Desert Hot Springs High School and Palm Springs High School.

Construction is set to continue at other schools throughout the year for continued improvements.

The first day back at school is Wednesday for students at Palm Springs Unified School District.