A project to renovate Lahainaluna High School’s stadium is expected to start next month, coming in the middle of the track and field season and forcing the relocation of the school’s graduation ceremony.

While grateful for the upgrades, many parents, as well as their student-athletes, are upset with the timing of scheduled construction work.

The $2 million project includes renovating the existing track and football field inside Sue Cooley Stadium and completely replacing it with new synthetic surfaces and turf, said Derek Inoshita, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education, on March 1.

Construction is anticipated to begin in early April. During the construction, Sue Cooley Stadium will be closed.

There’s no specific completion date, but work is anticipated to last through May, according to Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso. This conflicts with the track and field season as well as graduation, but the stadium will be ready in time for preseason football.

“It’s all frustrating. I just think it’s really bad timing,” said Lahaina resident Carol Liburd, whose son is a senior on the track team. “Why are they just now coming to this decision right as they are about to graduate? It’s just really frustrating.”

A parent meeting that included Lahainaluna’s senior class was held in late February to go over announcements. Near the end of the meeting, Carosso notified the crowd of about 100 people of the upcoming project.

One parent told The Maui News that week that the meeting “got tense,” and another said that many of their questions were left unanswered.

They hoped that the construction would be during a more convenient time when it benefited the majority of the student body, such as during the summer when kids are out of school and not competing.

Carosso posted a letter to the school’s website in late February, too, saying that there had been a lot of speculation over the location of the commencement ceremony and that the school had decided to host graduation at the Boarders’ Field on May 21.

“I have been hesitant to share information because honestly, no definitive decisions had been made,” Carosso said in the letter. “Now that the decision has been made, full scale planning can begin. More details will follow, but of course, the biggest factor for families will be that this change will come with very limited seating.”

Staff will work on the details and provide information when available, according to the letter.

“As this has been circulating as a possibility, I have heard many exciting stories about past graduation ceremonies there,” Carosso wrote. “I look forward to this return to tradition with anticipation for a magical evening celebrating this amazing group of students.”

Still, some parents said that their students wish they had been consulted first. After past senior classes lost multiple full-scale graduation ceremonies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the class of 2023 was looking forward to a grand commencement at Sue Cooley Stadium, which seats 3,000.

“My son’s immediate family, all from Florida, were all going to come and that’s 14 people, and obviously we are going to be limited on Boarders’ Field,” Liburd said March 6 via phone.

A lot of local families are large in numbers, too, so not being able to accommodate everyone “puts a damper on the whole thing,” she added.

The mother has already attended a commencement ceremony at Boarders’ Field for her older son, who’s now 25. She described it as being “cramped and tiny.”

There have also been concerns regarding the closure of the track and field facility midway through the track season. Especially with the ongoing renovations at the War Memorial Stadium, the Lunas have not secured a backup facility to do specific event training at.

“We’re already inconvenienced that War Memorial is closed,” Liburd said. “It’s just not fair.”

Lunas athletic director Jonathan Conrad said that “while (we’re) excited about the much needed update to our facility, Lahainaluna understands the concerns of students and parents on the impact of the stadium resurface.”

“We are working with the State to address these concerns, and are hopeful to mitigate the effects on our student-athletes,” Conrad said in an email on March 1.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.