This letter is in response to Tom Dunn's letter. He had some errors in it. I want to make sure that the misconceptions are cleared up.

He stated that Starr's Mill High School has more locker rooms than McIntosh. We have a total of four, two upstairs for PE classes and two team locker rooms downstairs. McIntosh has the same configuration.

The big difference is that the McIntosh boys' team locker room is equipped with the oversized lockers necessary to handle football players' equipment. Starr's Mill does not have a single locker that could hold a helmet, let alone shoulder pads. Neither does Rising Starr.

The Starr's Mill High School and Rising Starr Middle School complex was designed like the school complex in Woodstock, Ga. The same construction company was used to build ours in Fayette County. It was designed to have an auditorium and a field house with locker rooms for the outdoor athletic teams. When our board of education chose that design, they knew that they would have to build a field house also. Currently, our two schools use seven trailers and two port-a-potties for their "field house." Jim Stinson stated in a letter that our proposed field house would have a weight room. That is untrue. We already have one inside the school.

The board of education also must have believed that our school system needs another auditorium since they chose that design. The auditorium has been utilized by all three schools at the South Complex, plus numerous other schools and organizations. Before it had seats, we used the cafeteria, gymnasium, or media center for parent meetings, which we continue to do. The auditorium is rarely used for that purpose.

I am happy for McIntosh that they have been able to improve their track facilities. At the South Complex, our athletes must practice under adverse conditions. Since we have no facilities, last year our athletes ran in the parking lots, driveways, and streets. I have been informed that they are going to try to find grassy areas to run on part of the time in order to protect their legs from running on asphalt. I'm not sure how they will practice running in lanes and some of the field events. This year, they have one home meet (at Sandy Creek) and nine away meets. Perhaps the other schools will be willing to give up some of their track facilities to allow our athletes to properly train. That would be the fair thing to do.

Our soccer teams will again this year have three home games (played at Peachtree City's South Soccer Fields, not at our school complex) and 12 away games. None of our regular games were allowed to be scheduled at the other three high schools. What that means for our players is that they get on the bus after school to go to the away games and do not get back until approximately 11 p.m. Sandy Creek was kind to let us use their facilities last year for our play-off games. (Fayette County let us use Tiger Stadium for our home football games.)

The schools at the South Complex do have a great deal of technology. The state of Georgia gives grants to new schools for start-up expenses including technology. Sandy Creek received similar funding when they opened. Also, each school receives money based on the number of students they have and the kind of classes they are taking. Our school administration and faculty decided to put a great deal of emphasis on technology. I cannot speak for the decisions made at other schools with their funding.

I do not know of a single parent who participated in the design of the South Complex or suggested a design that necessitated a field house and that gave us an auditorium. That decision was made by the board of education.

I wonder how others would feel if it were their child who was made to go to a new school because of where they lived and that boundaries had changed requiring them to do so. How would they really feel if they had a child involved in outdoor athletics and they didn't have a proper place to train or ever have a real home game? This is our second year as a school. How much longer must we wait?

Students at Rising Starr and Starr's Mill are being told "Wait until later!" Waiting until later is not an option for those children currently enrolled. If they do not have the opportunity while they are there, they will never have it. Is that fair?