Schools
Permit Process for Any Use of New Turf Field Irks Springfield Dad
Man suggests residents be issued a card they could swipe to enter the field instead of getting a permit to 'kick a ball around with our kids.'
Springfield dad Joe Perez asked the Board of Education at its Monday evening meeting about the procedure for gaining access to the new athletic complex should a resident want to "kick a ball around with our kids" when it's not in use.
Board secretary Matt Clarke explained that residents can complete a permit application, available through the buildings and grounds department, located on the second floor of Jonathan Dayton High School. The permit then goes through a series of sign-offs to ensure that it was not previously booked - in the case of the new turf field - by the high school athletics department, any extra curricular activity or the recreation department. The approval process takes approximately a day to a day-and-a-half, Clarke said.
Perez said the turnaround time for getting a permit seemed a bit "convoluted" and added that he doubted it would be possible to receive the permit within a day or two.
"I'm more concerned as a resident taxpayer that you've got this beautiful field and if it's not being used and we have nothing else going on, I can't go and kick the ball around with my kid," Perez said. "It's a bit of a problem for me. We paid a lot of money for that field. I understand that there are some fail safes you have to put in place, you don't want anybody ripping it up but I think there are some other things you could put in place rather than padlocking it."
Board president Steve Wolcott said he believes the field needs to be locked because it wouldn't just be residents who would be using it. He added that recently a group of people were walking toward the field with barbells after a soccer game ended and when asked why they were there, they said they wanted to lift weights on the field.
"What you're requesting is a very innocent, very normal type of thing but there's a whole host of things that we do need to control, which explains the whole locking system," Wolcott said.
Perez suggested residents be issued a card that they could swipe to use the field and from time to time have the area patrolled to ensure it was being used by residents.
Springfield Schools Superintendent Michael Davino said the school district and the township are liable should the proper permit not be secured if someone were injured on the property. He added that given the number of other programs using the field, it could be difficult for individuals to be granted time but said Perez could "certainly apply."Perez said he believes if residents had been aware of the limited public access they'd have to the facility "less people would have been for it initially."
Wolcott said he was hard-pressed to name a high school field that granted open access to residents.
Board member Irwin Sablosky said if everyone were allowed out on the field at any time and the field were ruined prematurely residents would be more unhappy about that than they would be about the restrictions.
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