Electricians and welders were on hand. School officials hadn't planned on the work, but they were left little choice after cooper thieves hit Monday night.
"It's caused a lot of pain and heartache for us," said Peter Davenport from Upland Unified School District. "We are trying to do our best to get the school facility back up to a functional environment."
The school's pool and tennis courts were left without electricity. A week-and-a-half ago thieves also stole wiring out of an electrical vault outside the football stadium knocking out power to the field and surrounding areas.
"Just as we're about to turn the switches back on so to speak," said Davenport. "Aug. 15, that Monday morning, we come in and find out we've been compromised again."
The school does have security cameras in place and they are hoping surveillance video may provide some clues as to who did this and they're also hoping it will prevent future acts of vandalism.
Next Tuesday is the start of classes for Upland High School students. It will cost the school $16,000 to get everything back up and running by then.
And while insurance will cover a majority of it, the district is out $5,000.
"The kids are the ones that are hurt the most by this," said parent Fred Harrison. "The school district has to help, but we're actually paying for it out of our tax dollars."
The school district is now installing deadbolts and additional security measures to thwart future thieves.
