I have been an active volunteer and supporter of Levittown Athletics and the school district in general for many years. I have taken thousands of photos, attended hundreds of games and raised lots of money fundraising for the kids. When my family relocated here, we picked this area for a number of reasons and we are happy we did. Over the years however I have felt frustration when traveling to away games for two reasons: many other schools have better fields and facilities, and our district is often maligned by fans in other towns. I tell you all of this not to pat myself on the back, but rather to point out that, like most of the parents around here, I care about the kids - all the kids - not just mine. And I care about the neighborhood.

I am writing to you today to express my profound disappointment in the people who have bashed the proposed pool, the field of dreams and the board of education. I am on both the field and pool committees and our charter was clear; to study the feasibility of the projects with an open mind. Clearly some of the folks who volunteered to be on the committee have not followed that direction and I am appalled that they consider negative signs, T-shirts and comments about the pool appropriate. These people do not have kids in the school and they are not thinking about increased programs for the kids, increased activities in the district or increased business for the local stores. They are only thinking about themselves and the possibility of more traffic. The folks who bashed the pool did not do their homework, do not understand the economics nor do they care. To the folks who bash the BOE I say this: Get out and vote next time, attend meetings and voice your opinion. I have personally never seen an organization that is so open to the public, available and sensitive to the community - they deserve more respect than they are getting here.

Just think about this from a high level: we could get a pool, a turf field and new parking and traffic patterns; and remove the old rusty tennis fences and fields; and we could reduce maintenance (turf does not get mowed); and we could host tournaments and bring in revenue to the community; and we could get the kids and elderly in swimming programs - all without a tax increase. But the people who live around the school think this is a bad idea. Maybe I am missing something, but I just do not understand what is going on here.

Armando D'Accordo