Rockville Centre Letters to the Editor

Posted

Safety should be top concern

To the Editor:

I read with some interest your story last week about debris under the Watson School field prompting its closure for the rest of the year (“Debris prompts Watson school field closure”). As you reported, Watson parents demanded that the problem be corrected because it is endangering the children who use the field every day, though no injuries have been reported. Yet!

In my experience, the RVC School District has a tin ear when it comes to anything that may or may not endanger “the children.” Dr. William Johnson is quoted as saying, “If there’s any chance someone would be hurt, we’ll close the field.” That seems to be belied by the fact that parents have been complaining about the conditions since November. They have every right to be angry.

Four years ago at Covert, a rusty piece of the school-yard chain-link fence gate pierced my daughter in the upper chest during a game of capture the flag. The chain link that was protruding like a spear was old, rusty, poorly maintained and, quite frankly, an accident waiting to happen.

You would think what followed would have gotten the attention of the administration. Multiple Nassau County police officers responded, along with an ambulance that transported us, sirens blaring, on the wrong side of Franklin Avenue, straight to the trauma ER at Winthrop University Hospital. It was a surreal experience to see, as the ambulance doors flew open, a full trauma team of doctors and nurses who had been alerted to a possible artery puncture with heavy bleeding. After several hours in the ER, we learned her injuries were not life-threatening, nor did she have a collapsed lung. We were extremely fortunate that she was left only with a permanent, disfiguring scar.

Naturally, I thought after this episode that the administration would immediately replace this disgusting eyesore and potential deathtrap, particularly after passing an “improvement” bond of $46 million. What could a new section of fence possibly cost — several hundred dollars? It’s not a shiny new building addition or a turf field with lights, but replacing this decrepit piece of fence might actually save a child’s life one day, or prevent a smaller child’s eye from being speared by one of the broken chain links.

Imagine my utter disgust after reading your story, when I visited Covert today to see the exact same fence, in the exact same condition.

Good luck to the Watson parents. And fair warning to Covert parents. I wish this administration would indeed take appropriate action immediately “if there’s a chance” a child could be hurt.

Siobhan Moran

Rockville Centre