Palo Alto High School will remove the portables near the quad over summer and replace them with landscaping.
According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, the removal process will begin at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
“We’ll probably start prepping certain things before school gets out and then removing them [the portables] during the summer,” Berkson said. “I don’t think the landscaping will get done over the summer, that could be a while, but the removal will definitely be done.”
Berkson said removing the portables will allow the Palo Alto Unified School District to reuse them elsewhere.
“They’ve been here for about 15 years and no one likes them,” Berkson said. “I think there’s a need for these portables somewhere else in the district as well.”
Currently, the portables house a variety of offices, clubs, testing areas and night classes. Berkson said that Advanced Placement testing logistics specifically will need to be addressed.
“Those portables do a lot for us,” Berkson said.”During AP testing, we have some kids take their tests there. We have a testing room where all AP tests are stored. There’s a lot of moving pieces that we need to figure out between now and the beginning of the year.”
According to Berkson, the portables will be replaced with semi-permanent landscaping.
“Part of it [landscaping] will be more permanent,” Berkson said. “The area closest to the 900 building will be more semi-permanent since we might do something else someday. Landscaping will include plants, trees and cement.”
