Residents at the February and March Levittown Board of Education meetings spoke out about the condition of the track at Division Avenue High School.

At the February meeting, Gary Hudes, a Levittown resident, brought up the deplorable state of the track at Division. Since that meeting, residents got together to make the board aware of their displeasure with the situation. Hundreds of concerned Levittowners sent the school board letters expressing their concern.

One such form letter reads, "I am concerned about the lack of physical education facilities at Division Avenue High School. Specifically, I am speaking of the absence of a modern track. I am aware that although MacArthur High School has a usable track, DAHS has not had a competitive track for at least 12 years. This has forced Phys Ed classes, lacrosse, football, baseball, and other students to use the surrounding fields or streets as their track. The use of these fields is unhealthy (geese waste), and not conducive to the physical well-being of our students' and athletes legs', muscles and joint development."

The letter continues on to state, "Division Ave. High School's track has been neglected and unusable for far too long. DAHS should be able to host track meets, and use its track to train its athletes to their maximum potential...success for every student! DAHS students deserve no less than our sister high school. The time is long past, and as a Levittown resident, I expect the school district to remedy this inequity forthwith."

Hudes brought two boxes of letters from concerned residents to the March board meeting to add to the hundreds already sent to the district. What residents are hoping to achieve with these letters is the addition of a new track in the budget for the 1999-2000 school year.

With budget discussions already begun, now is the time for residents to make themselves heard about what they want included in that budget.

Hudes spoke about the research he had done into the cost of a new track. He said that although he had heard an amount of $450,000 from people in the district, he has found prices that range between $200,000 and $300,000. He went on to say that he has also discovered that this is an expense that is reimbursable by the state, which means the state may pay back approximately 60 percent of the cost of the new track. Before bringing pieces of the crumbled track to the board, Hudes concluded, "When you do the math it's not that much money."

The lack of a track at Division affects more than just the students at the school, as attested to by PTA Council President Roxanne Boneillo in her statements during the Public Be Heard section of the March school board meeting. Boneillo raised concern for all residents who had any reason to walk on the track, because of the ruts and broken cinders in their path. She stated, "A vending machine with Ace Bandages would be a service for anyone still walking that track." Boneillo went on to explain that her father's doctor suggested that he walk the track at the local high school so he could get his needed aerobic exercise and monitor the distance he walked. She said, "What a joke- I'm afraid he would end up in traction," and continued on to state that there are accident reports on file at the school from times that she fell on the track and spoke of times she witnessed children and a school principal fall because of the condition of the track. Boneillo concluded that not only the children at Division, but the whole community deserves a usable track at the high school.

According to John Allen, director of physical education for the district, the superintendent has closed the track because it is not usable in its present condition. When asked if the situation with the track presented a problem for the district Allen responded, "I think there is a necessity to do something about the condition of the track, whether it be to go the distance to put in an all-weather track or just to make the necessary changes in the present track, to make it suitable and to maintain it on a more frequent basis." He concluded, "The final decision is a decision that the board of education will have to make after getting all the input they are receiving from a lot of different people."

According to Dr. Herman Sirois, superintendent of the Levittown School District, the board and administration are currently getting estimates of the cost of the track. He said that the issue of the track, as well as other issues such as class size, which were raised this past year, would be brought up during budget discussions. Sirois went on to explain, "Ultimately they [the board] will have to decide whether or not to include those things in the budget and, if they do, the voters have to decide if they want to pass a budget with those things in it."