This letter is in response to the Board of Education meeting held on Dec. 21 and the conversation [board member Debbie Condon] initiated with me after it.

I still do not understand the board's decision to not fund the outdoor facilities at the South Complex. Perhaps it is because some of you did not have all of the necessary information.

When the South Complex was being planned, it was designed to have outdoor athletic facilities, including team locker rooms. Therefore, outdoor sports team locker rooms were not built inside either the middle or high school. Residents were promised that if their children went to the new school, they would have the same programs and facilities available to them as if they had stayed at their respective schools. This did not happen. Then, we were told that no new school got their outdoor facilities the first year they were open. We are in our second year and it looks like there is no hope for it even happening in our third year of existence. That is not fair or right.

In our conversation after the meeting, you stated that we have so much more than McIntosh. It was built over 20 years ago. I agree that it needs renovations. But does that mean when Sandy Creek, Starr's Mill and Fayette County High Schools were built, that the county should stay with old designs instead of using experience gained to improve the facilities at the new schools? I think that is what progress is all about.

Inequalities between schools seems to have been the norm for Fayette County for a period of time. I hope that someday that can be remedied. Fayette County High School had a woefully inadequate gymnasium for decades. I'm sure they were not pleased when McIntosh was built with a wonderful gym (by those day's standards). Then comes Sandy Creek with an even nicer gym. Finally last year, Fayette County got the largest gym in the county, even bigger than Starr's Mill.

But just because you build a new school doesn't mean that you always get better. Did you know that McIntosh's wrestling room is about twice the size of Starr's Mill? In fact, our wrestlers have to move their mats every day to the cafeteria so that they have enough room to practice. Starr's Mill art department does not have as much as Sandy Creek. We have no graphic arts like McIntosh. Our library has nowhere near the same number of volumes as the other schools.

You talked about the televisions in all of the rooms including the lobbies of the main office and the guidance counselors. Did you know that we are supposed to have a television "studio" and all of the announcements will be carried over it? That is how it is done at several other county high schools already.

You also talked about the furniture in empty classrooms. I can assure you that all of our rooms will be utilized next year when we have all four grade levels. I am sorry that Juliette Babb had to scrape gum off tables for her computers. If the county was hurting for money so much, why did the board allocate thousands of dollars extra for McIntosh to expand their track to eight lanes rather than the six-lane track that had been appropriated? Where did the money for Tiger Stadium renovations come from? If the board can do those things, why can't they fund facilities that are desperately needed and nonexistent?

During the meeting [board member] Mrs. [Connie] Hale and you said that you were just seeing the athletic facility plans for the first time that night. How can that be?

I know the representatives of the Panther Athletic Boosters Club met several times with the board during work sessions this fall and that the outdoor facility blueprints were presented to the board over a month ago. Did you not receive a copy of the board agenda the week prior to the December meeting? Was it not your responsibility to go and look at the plans in the superintendent's office prior to the meeting if you had not seen them? How can you vote to accept or reject any agenda item if you haven't done your homework?

Mrs. Hale and you sounded surprised that there would be both high school and middle school football locker rooms. Have you ever been in one? They have to be separate because each athlete has his own pads and helmet that have been carefully selected for him to help prevent injuries. They are stored in an oversized locker between practices and games. Players are changing almost every day at the same time. Therefore, separate facilities are needed to both house the equipment and allow for changing. I know that both Whitewater and Flat Rock have special team locker rooms for this as do all of the other high schools.

As I stated before, the South Complex was designed to have a field house. It was not designed to have outdoor team sports locker rooms inside the building. The gym lockers are not big enough. The players would ruin the indoor track and the hardwood basketball court with their cleats to get to those lockers. The gym is too far from the playing field. During half time, they would just get to the gym from the field and it would be time to turn around and go back.

I could go on about other issues like this, but it would be best if you and the other board members sat down with our athletic people to discuss these and other items in detail.

You stated that the price was also a deterrent to you. I know that it sounds like a great deal more than what has been spent at other schools. How long ago were those facilities built? Even if you were to exactly duplicate what they have, it would cost more in today's dollars. Please remember that you are not talking about just a high school's athletic programs, but also a middle school's. I can even foresee Peeple's Elementary using some of the athletic facilities as they (any many other in the county) have already used the auditorium.

As I have stated several times before, it is not fair that our student athletes do not have facilities at our school as do all of the other Fayette county schools. We have a number of gifted athletes who have the potential for college scholarships. How are they to adequately prepare for competition without proper facilities? Some of those students were forced to leave established programs and facilities. Some of them were on varsity teams as freshmen. Some of them have never had the opportunity to train in proper facilities. How is being at Starr''s Mill fair to them? Are you trying to limit Starr's Mill's success in athletics?

There is a safety issue also. Are you aware that our middle and high school track athletes compete with cars in the parking lots, driveways, and streets during training sessions? Those are the only places available for them to practice. It is by the grace of God that no one has been hit by a car, which would have resulted in a lawsuit for the school board to deal with. We were fortunate to have four athletes make it to the State Finals in Track last year. Our girls' soccer team was runner-up in the state. How much better could our athletes have done with proper facilities at our school? There is still not a proper facility in which to train.

If you are not going to fund our athletic facilities then you need to develop a plan that makes our situation equitable with the other schools in our county. By having games away from our site, attendance is lower and that means the athletic department of Starr's Mill loses gate revenue and the band boosters and athletic boosters have missed out on potential concession revenue. Can you compensate them for that?

I urge you to adopt a plan that provides for the outdoor athletic facilities designed for Starr's Mill by the 1999-2000 school year. To do less would discriminate against the students of Starr's Mill.