The Friends of Farmingdale Athletics, with the generous support of New York State Senator Charles Fuschillo, have donated equipment to light up the Farmingdale High School football field and track. The facility lighting further enhances the restoration of the field and development of the all-new track.

The lighting is an important new addition to the high school fields, benefiting both students participating in and attending football, track, soccer and lacrosse events and the community at large. Every night, year round, a portion of the bank of lights are controlled by automatic timers to light the fields from dusk until 8 p.m., enabling all community residents to use the track to support their personal exercise programs for fitness and health. "While some of the lights are lit nightly on automatic timers," explained Ed Cullen, director of districtwide operations, "we recently realized that we need to shut them off manually when the track is covered with snow and the community will not be using it. But as we move into the spring, we expect that the track will be used every night. In the fall, before the weather changed, it was being used regularly by community residents."

The funding for the lighting was in the form of a New York State Parks Department grant provided through Senator Fuschillo's office. Consistent with many of the capital improvements completed throughout the district, the lighting project required a portion of the site's electric wiring and cabling to be upgraded, which incurred additional expenses that exceeded the grant. The Friends of Farmingdale Athletics have raised additional funds from parents with the intent of funding improvements to support indoor sports, including a score board and furniture for teams and officials for the high school gym. The board has decided that it is appropriate for the district to fund the indoor gym score board and furniture," stated Board President Anthony Vitale," and for the money collected by the Friends of Farmingdale Athletics to be used toward the unfunded portion of the lighting costs. The board is happy to work with the Friends on future fund-raising endeavors."

The Friends of Farmingdale Athletics believe the lights are a wonderful addition to the district and community.