Six months after the Greater Essex County District School Board decided to close athletic tracks at four high schools, the fight to keep at least three open continues.
On Tuesday night, three delegates questioned the fiscal case for closing tracks at W.F. Herman Academy, Masse Secondary School, and Belle River District High School.
The tracks at those schools were deemed unrepairable, unusable, or too small by an engineering firm contracted by the school board. The trustees weighed whether to spend over $3.8-million to replace, repair, and move the facilities or just over $1-million to tear them out and replace them with grass.
Gino Faca said he spoke with different contractors in the region who had previously completed work for either the public school board or the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board, and the estimates for the same work were 60 per cent lower.
Trustee Julia Burgess said she had confidence in the board's purchasing and pointed out that very few contractors in Canada met the criteria to do the work.
Faca said the tracks are used by 4,000 students at the three schools, including special needs students.
He also warned the board ripping the tracks out will hurt participation in high school sports.
"So let's say there was a track event, somebody said, well, we'll go to Riverside," he said. Those kids would either have to walk, take the bus, or get a ride from their parents. How many of these kids are actually going to bother going?"
Suzanne and Gerald Hlady echoed Faca's claim the tracks are in wide use. At Belle River District High School, where both teach and coach, they pointed out that 400 students and 16 students in the S.T.E.P.S. program use the track regularly. Multiple elementary school track meets are held there every year.
Suzanne Hlady, a former Olympic bobsledder, recounted the track's role in her athletic success.
"I would not be an Olympian today if it wasn't for the Belle River track," she said. "I've coached three Olympians in this city, and if you don't see that as value, representing your country, representing your city. This is valuable."
While the number of students with mental health challenges rises, she reminded trustees how physical exercise can not only help with those conditions but keep kids on the straight and narrow path.
"When I was an athlete, I couldn't do drugs. I couldn't drink alcohol because I'd be tested. It kept me out of trouble. It's keeping kids out of trouble," said Hlady.
Board Chair Gale Simko-Hatfield suggested the group consider raising funds to save the tracks but warned they would need to collect millions of dollars for track repairs and maintenance in the years ahead.
The board also chose to close the track at Kennedy Collegiate last fall.