Charter Oak High Parents Start Campaign to Fix Aging Pools

On any game day at Charter Oak High School, you will find the water polo teams competing to win, but a dilapidated and under-sized pool only makes winning that much more challenging.

However, some parents are trying to pave the way to renovate the Aquatics Facilities.

Sandra Oddo, parent of a freshman Charter Oak swimmer, became curious over the summer as to why a new pool had not been built.

“Nobody could answer these questions,” Oddo said. She added that everyone had been told for the past 20 years that a new aquatics facility was “at the top of the list” of projects, but never saw the light of day.

Oddo was joined by parents Ann Marin and Alicia Puebla. The three began researching possible architecture companies and what other districts have done for their aquatics facilities.

To start, the group is hoping to generate seed money to fund a $5,000 analysis to assess what exactly needs to be done for the pools.

According to Joe Probst, Charter Oak board vice president, the district will not provide that seed money.

“The district is eventually going to have to find the hundreds of thousands [of dollars],” Probst said at a Sept. 15 board meeting inn regards to the actual construction. “Perhaps fundraising could be where the seed money comes from, so we could do the research that is necessary.”

The pools, built in 1964, are deteriorating.

Perimeter tiles are coming loose, tiles on the inside of the pools are cracking and breaking off and cracks crisscross the cement walking surface.

Other projects throughout the district received attention: modernization projects dotted schools throughout Charter Oak over the years, courtesy of $30 million in funding from the Measure C Bond.

The district received $2.9 million in federal stimulus money and renovated the quad area, football field and running track.

The water polo pool does not meet the minimum dimension requirements established by the Nation Federation of High School Associations. Pools must be 25 meters long and a maximum of 20 meters to a minimum of 13 meters wide.

Charter Oak’s is 18 meters long by 9 meters wide.

"It is, by far, the smallest pool in Southern California that our teams play water polo in," said Howard Hyde, a water polo and swim coach who has been with Charter Oak since 1991.

"We're running two different styles of water polo, which is a bit harder for the kids," Hyde said.

Because the pool is not CIF regulation, Charter Oak has not hosted a playoff tournament in the 14 out of the 18 years that the teams have been in the playoffs under Hyde.

Andrew Kaufman, a driver on the water polo team, feels the tremendous difference when playing in a regulation size pool as opposed to Charter Oak’s.

“Our team becomes so conditioned to playing in a much smaller pool that it affects the way that we run our plays,” the senior said. "It results in us becoming more tired because of having to swim greater distances."

"Back when the pool was built in 1964, I was sure it was a state-of-the-art facility, which is no longer a fact," said Ann Marin at the Sept. 15 board meeting. "It has lived out its existence and I feel our children deserve better.

"With no vision, we have no target, with no target, we have nothing to aim for."