Dundee-Crown needs better fields, parking

As many of you are aware, Dundee-Crown High School has received tremendous notoriety due to recent athletic achievements. The varsity boy's basketball team finished fourth in state. This attention brought the school thousands of new visitors, fans, parents, college scouts and, of course, the news media. What a wonderful tribute of true sportsmanship Dundee-Crown High School represented for District 300.

A critical question on the minds of many is why the students, parents and fans of this school are subject to parking in an unlit area of an abandoned school lacking walkway access to our school or field house? Furthermore, why are athletes/students forced to practice off site on alternating days and in unsafe areas?

It is disheartening that the school board has to contemplate what to do with the DeLacey building. A sound option is to give the students, parents and fans the necessary practice fields, landscaping, parking and walkway for safety and aesthetics. The taxpayers whose children attend Dundee-Crown expect to see something other than a "Band-Aid" to appease us. Jacobs High School has plenty of well-lit parking, with sidewalks and paved paths between fields, as does the new Hampshire High School.

Dundee-Crown shares land with an elementary school and one must traverse mud and dirt to get to our fields. New practice fields would alleviate the necessity of security, scheduling overlaps and alternating times for sports. This would never be tolerated at the other schools, so why is Dundee-Crown an exception?

Mary Kay and Mike Romano

Algonquin