BOE Fields Committee Comes Up with Plan B for Athletic Improvements

The Parsippany Board of Education's ad hoc committee on the high school athletic fields held its first meeting Saturday, March 16, to brainstorm ideas for making improvements to facilities at the township's high schools.

BOE members and community volunteers holding a variety of points of view are part of the committee, which was formed after voters rejected the school board's $7.7 million fields improvement plan during the Jan. 22 referendum.

At the gathering, the members determined that short- and long-term strategies were needed to accomplish the body's stated mission to make athletic refurbishments a reality.

The group came up with what's known as Phase 1, a scaled back recommendation for improvements. In answer to the resounding "no" vote in January, the committee decided to add no extras such as lights, bathrooms, bleacher upgrades, or Americans With Disabilities Act access to what it's calling a "first step toward improvement." 

The plan, however, does include a request that the full board set aside funds for immediate repairs to the Parsippany High School track and for re-seeding and adding sod to the Parsippany Hills High School football field.

The committee also is asking that the BOE put $1.5 million into the 2013-14 schools budget to install a new track in at the High School and for a new multi-purpose turf field at the Hills. Should the BOE approve these budget items and if the spending plan goes through successfully, the body also asks that the work begin immediately.

As a result of the committee’s recommendation, Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz modified the 2013-2014 preliminary budget to include full funding for a new track at PHS and the installation of a multi-purpose artificial turf field at PHHS.

According to a school district statement, cuts were made to the current preliminary spending plan to ensure that the athletic improvements did not increase the size of the $132.4 million budget or increase the tax levy that was adopted by the school board March 5.

The BOE will make a final decision on this recommendation and the final 2013-2014 budget at its March 28 meeting at Brooklawn Middle School at 7:30 p.m.

Going forward, the ad hoc committee will turn its attention to developing Phase 2 of the fields improvement plan, which will address a new multi-purpose artificial turf field at Parsippany High, "other priority projects" and a variety of funding options. The district's statement said the committee will develop a business plan to address remaining facility needs as soon as possible and will establish a nonprofit trust to accept donations for high school athletic upgrades.