School District to Turn Off Extra Lights

The Los Angeles Unified School District has pulled the plug on supplemental outdoor security lighting at 164 schools and other facilities to save $1.2 million a year, officials said Friday.

The district asked the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to take down lights installed on poles adjacent to campuses and buildings on July 1, the start of the current fiscal year, said Stephanie Brady, a district spokeswoman.

“The decision to shut down was based upon budget cuts” and officials’ belief that there is no “critical need,” she said.

She said the officials believe facilities already had adequate lighting.

There are 800 schools in the district.

Some of the 164 campuses and buildings in the DWP program could be dark at night, but those schools have yet to be identified, Brady said.

“We are working with the LAUSD Police Department to see if there are any specific safety concerns,” she said. “We don’t feel that anything we are doing jeopardizes safety or security.”

Six sites deemed cost-effective will remain in the DWP lighting program, Brady said. Those sites are the Belmont Learning Center, Bridge Street Elementary School, Newcastle Annex, Sun Valley Middle School, Orion Street facility and the 17th Street storage facility.