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Longtime Berkeley resident and business woman Mabel Bolton has left Thousand Oaks Elementary School $150,000 as part of her will.  

Bolton, who lived and worked close to the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, included the Berkeley Unified School District as one of the beneficiaries in her will because she wanted to contribute to the success of the school. 

Jesse Ramos, Thousand Oaks principal, and Gwyneth Galbraith, a Thousand Oaks parent and co-chair of the school’s governance council, told the Berkeley Board of Education at a meeting last week that the school wanted to use the funds to install solar panels and improve safety on campus. 

“Both proposals would benefit the community and live up to Bolton’s goal of enhancing Thousand Oaks,” Galbraith told the board. 

“Going solar would make Thousand Oaks an energy-efficient school. The campus is a huge destination for our community. It could use some sprucing up. The school also goes through some low-grade vandalism ... It’s a gathering place for people after school hours and sometimes people are up to mischief. We would like to restrict access after 6 p.m. to prevent people from jumping on the roof and drinking.” 

According to a report submitted to the board by the Thousand Oaks School Governance Council, the use of the campus by hundreds of students during school hours and “scores more after school and on weekends” has resulted in the deterioration of the school grounds. 

The report also states that the school has suffered vandalism in the form of graffiti, overturned trash cans and other minor infractions, which have cost the district money and created a negative impact on the school. 

Proposed improvements to the campus include landscaping, motion-sensor lights and other security measures to discourage vandalism. 

Galbraith told the board that the Thousand Oaks PTA would work with the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association to organize regular campus clean-up days. She added that the school’s administration would also collaborate with the Berkeley Police Department to ensure proper use of the campus facilities. 

“It fits well with what the city is trying to do,” said school board president John Selawsky, referring to the city’s plan to cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions in Berkeley. 

“But there needs to be more research.” 

Ramos and Galbraith told the board that they would gather more information about project costs and return to the board for another discussion. 

Washington Elementary School will embark on a project to install solar panels on the roof of the school in June. Estimated to cost $1.25 million, the move will make Washington the first school to go solar in the district.