Parents await figures on artificial-turf fields

As he has at recent Board of Education meetings, Calhoun High School parent Eric Strezenec called on the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Board of Education on Feb. 3 to release figures on how installation of three synthetic-turf football fields at the district’s three high schools would affect homeowners’ property taxes.

And, once again, the school board said that Strezenec must attend a Feb. 16 budget hearing at the Brookside School to hear those figures.

A group of parents, mostly fathers and mothers of Calhoun athletes, have lobbied the board in recent years to install artificial-turf fields at the three high schools because, they say, grass fields do not stand up well to constant use. Architects hired by the district have projected the cost of three synthetic fields at roughly $3 million, but the district has not provided information on how the proposal might affect property taxes.

The Board of Education has, to date, rejected proposals to construct artificial-turf fields, mainly because of their cost.

John Pinto, a former Central District trustee, said during last Wednesday’s board meeting that he would support neither a bond nor a tax hike to pay for synthetic-turf fields, despite his support for them in the past. Pinto said that he had originally proposed that the district use excess money in its accrued liability fund to pay for the fields. The district uses the fund to pay for teachers’ unused sick days when they retire.

In 2008, the district moved $3.2 million out of the $10 million accrued liability fund, after the state found the fund total to be excessive, according to Cynthia Strait Régal, the district’s deputy superintendent for business. The $3.2 million was moved into a capital reserve fund, and paid for:

• New generators.

• Roof work where needed.

• Concrete work where needed.

• Sidewalk and curb replacement throughout the district.

• Ceiling and lighting replacement at Merrick Avenue Middle School.

• New bleachers at Mepham.

• Track resurfacing so the district could maintain its warranties on its tracks.

Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.