By Nancy Hallock
When stickers were recently used to deface pro-Marsden signs, one word jumped out: entitlement.
We were saddened that anyone might think that about our public school community. And it got us thinking about what students are entitled to.
By law, they are entitled to a free and appropriate public education that is free from substantial disruption. This ought to include opportunities for academic, physical and social-emotional growth, with minimal lost learning time to meet those needs.
As rhetoric escalates and community members disagree over the future of Marsden, we must all keep these simple tenets in mind. Our fear is we may miss this once-in-forever opportunity for the children of our land-locked school district.
We are the Parent Teacher Student Association executive board. We represent parent, teacher and student members, and we are here to advocate for a land acquisition that, in many ways, can better the educational experience for future generations of Sag Harbor students.
It is easy to see Marsden solely as an athletic field, due to recent limitations of working with the Community Preservation Fund, but the reality is that this district has other needs as well and will have changing needs decades into the future that we must anticipate now.
The cost of purchasing this land would be funded by a $6 million bond (not $16 million) and a little over $3 million from reserves. For a family who owns a $1 million home, that will amount to $47 a year on the school tax bill. While there are sure to be future development costs, those decisions will be the community’s to debate and decide upon.
The Marsden acquisition provides school boards years from now with options to meet the needs of future generations of Sag Harbor children — decisions they will never get to make if we pass on this opportunity.
While it is easy to envision several uses of Marsden, a second on-site field has been the central debate thus far, potentially benefiting every student in grades six through 12. Currently, there are times when one to three physical education classes and one to 200 students at lunch recess are required to share the same field. With the rotational use that a second field could provide, not only could this situation be avoided but the fields would have time to rest to maintain quality, without negatively impacting students by limiting physical education or recess activities.
The science-supported shift to later school start times has exacerbated the impact of the lack of a second on-site field. There is no longer a cushion of time between when school ends and athletic practice begins. Currently, it is not possible for student athletes to participate in Homework Club, extra help and other enrichment activities.
Student athletes participating in shared sports often miss between 20 and 80 minutes of school each day of the sports season to attend practices and games at larger schools to our west, due, in part, to a shortage of fields at home.
With another regulation field some of our students could reclaim hours of lost time for learning.
While time is one difficult issue, safety is another. With the exponential increase of local traffic, the 1.1-mile walk to Mashashimuet Park is no longer as safe as it was in the past. Distracted or hurried drivers have come dangerously close to failing to yield to pedestrians crossing at crosswalks along Jermain Avenue. Marsden could open the opportunity for our youngest student athletes to practice closer to the school with substantially less risk.
As for claims that the district is insisting on a 100 percent turf field, the answer is, unequivocally, no.
Originally, the desire may have been for a 100 percent turf field, but with negotiations ongoing, by January, the School Board publicly stated its willingness to proceed otherwise. Ultimately, this community will have to decide if this is going to be a field or something else entirely, and, if a field, what that surface would look like. Fortunately, in today’s ecology-minded world, new sustainable plant-based technologies are emerging that may make that decision easier.
Decades from now, our current and future generations will look back on our actions. Marsden is a chance to show them that we value the importance of their education. We have made many attempts over the years, but this run at the Marsden Street properties could be our last chance.
One thing we can all agree on: The world will continue to change, our village will evolve, our school system will always be a vital part of our community, and we will never regret investing in our students.
Nancy Hallock is president of the Parent Teacher Student Association in the Sag Harbor School District. She writes on behalf of the executive board, which also includes Kiersten Simmons, middle school president; Maria Pentcheva-Burns, co-secretary; Diana Esposito, co-secretary; and Kim Garypie, treasurer.
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