1990s

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Advanced Placement course offerings expanded throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but there was also a decrease in elective offerings as core course requirements increased. In 1994, Bartlesville hosted the Oklahoma Student Council state convention for the first time in forty years. In the 1990s Ben West was succeeded as principal in turn by Bill Denton, then Jim Sisney, and finally Dr. Debi Boyles in 1998.

This decade brought much-needed lighting and climate control upgrades along with interior and exterior paint, but all of the major facilities in the building were old and undersized:

The auditorium could not seat the entire student body, so assemblies in there had to be repeated on a decrepit stage.
The gymnasium was showing its age with little separation between spectators and the playing floor, and crowds for a several state champion basketball teams led to some fans being shut out from games due to a packed house.
The choir room in the main building was too small, as was the band and orchestra room in the bottom of the stadium, and the stadium had major leaks.
The science labs were split between larger labs in the main building and several smaller labs on the top floor of the annex.

These problems would finally be addressed the following decade in a record-setting bond issue that transformed the campus.

Decades of state championships, particularly in swimming, would end in 1997, with the school not fielding another state champion team for 17 years, although it would field many state academic champion teams in the years to come.

Photographs

1990s

Facility History

1994

The former Hillcrest 66 gas station at the southwest corner of Hillcrest Drive and 18th Street was razed and turned into student parking.

1995
General renovations costing $1,169,317 were performed. The north, south, and west exterior walls were repainted and given new windows. The 1968 gymnasium addition's exterior walls were given a new sheathing. The roof was repaired, and many classrooms were repainted and received lighting and climate control upgrades.

1996
Handicapped access was added to top floor of the annex by constructing a hallway ramp atop the east side of the auditorium balcony. In 2008 the entire balcony would be remodeled into a conference room, linking hallway, and storage room.

1997
The library annex, which was originally the school's cafeteria and study hall across the hall from the original library, was partitioned to form classrooms and other areas. Sinks were added to one of the chemistry labs.

1998
Bond issue passed to renovate the stadium exterior and boiler and repaint its interior as well as repaint the east side of the main building.

1999
The east exterior of the buildings were repainted. A fume hood and gas outlets were added to one annex science lab. The grass football field was recrowned and the practice field was resodded.