LOCAL COLUMN
OPINION: APS should drop public from its name
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Public Schools should drop public from its name as it does not serve the general public. Yes, any student can enroll at APS but the general public is prohibited from using school grounds for recreational purposes. Tax-payers whose property taxes were used to build, improve and maintain those schools are denied access to use the grounds.
APS has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fence, gate and lock all school properties so that no one can use the school grounds. The executive director of APS Capital Master Plan emailed me, detailing three examples of damage at local high schools.
Sandia鈥檚 synthetic turf was deliberately damaged by several hooded/masked individuals on electric bikes who aggressively rode their machines on the track and field, lit fireworks in the middle of the field and set it afire, resulting in damage of nearly $100,000. Highland鈥檚 synthetic field and track was deliberately set on fire by unknown individuals, resulting in extensive damage costing almost $75,000. Volcano Vista鈥檚 synthetic field and track were deliberately driven on by unknown individuals who damaged the surface, resulting in repairs costing nearly $100,000.
I understand APS needing to limit access to the tracks and fields but this damage was not caused by runners or walkers, and wasn鈥檛 done during daylight hours. So is that reason to exclude runners and walkers from using the tracks? Having more eyes and ears on site could potentially prevent vandalism and damage from occurring.
Over a three-month period, I have either met or talked with the deputy superintendent of Operations for APS, the director of Athletics and Activities, and the executive director of Maintenance and Operations. I represent a coalition of various running groups and presented the deputy superintendent with petitions with over 250 signatures, requesting access to the school grounds. Each time, I was passed off to another staff member who either could not grant permission or would not deny my request. Twice, I was advised to use their scheduling program to request access to a particular school on a particular day and time.
Their scheduling program is geared toward a specific event and location, not all high school tracks, as we are requesting. Also, if the school property is opened, how does APS know who is using it and is it exclusive to the group requesting access? If it is exclusive, who is responsible for removing unauthorized people?
Through this process, I had copied the school board member for my district, Warigia Bowman. Unbeknownst to me, Bowman is a former track and cross country coach, so I felt I had an ally at APS. She emailed the deputy superintendent requesting a meeting with him, Bowman and me. The deputy superintendent has, at present, ignored Bowman鈥檚 request.
If you want the high school tracks to be open for the general public to use, I urge you to contact your school board member. If you don鈥檛 know who represents you on the school board, you can find that information at www.aps.edu/about-us/board/board-members. On that website you can also find maps of the various school board districts, as well as a link to your voter registration, which will tell you what school board district in which you reside.
Tom Besson is a past president of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Road Runners Club.
