To the Editor:

We urge Princeton residents to vote YES on Monday, September 24, on the public schools’ bond referendum. If approved, the funds will pay for many necessary and extremely important facilities improvements that will benefit all the children in our town’s schools each day.

As parents of baseball and soccer players, we are particularly pleased that the school district’s plans include the essential, long-needed refurbishment of the Valley Road playing fields. Despite diligent maintenance, time, weather and heavy use have taken their toll. Drainage improvements and re-grading are absolutely necessary to allow children to continue using the fields safely for years to come. Without immediate refurbishment, the fields will soon become unsafe, and further deteriorate to the point that future repair will be more expensive, perhaps even cost-prohibitive. Our current student athletes need safe playing fields. And the many Princeton Little League and youth soccer players who aspire to future glory deserve to have safe facilities when their turns come.

This project, and the other necessary, cost-effective projects designed to keep our schools safe and strong, are why we enthusiastically support the referendum. Please remember to vote YES on Monday, September 24. Polls open from noon to 9 pm.

Jean & Jon Durbin, Mt. Lucas Road

Beatrice & Michael Bloom, White Pine Lane

Bonnie & Lance Itkoff, Elm Road

Karen & Archibald Reid, Westcott Road

Cindi & Bill Venizelos, Rosedale Lane

———

To the Editor:

We are pleased to support the Princeton Public Schools’ referendum on September 24. We are enthusiastic about the projects that will improve energy efficiency in schools throughout the district; we are pleased to note the expansion and improvement of classroom spaces; and, we are supportive of the efforts to improve the safety and security of the schools for our students, faculty and staff.

We are especially pleased to support the improvements in the playgrounds and athletic facilities throughout the district. While priority use of the high school fields is given to the high school and middle school teams and the fields are sometimes leased to community club sports activities, the high school track, the artificial turf field, the tennis courts and other outdoor facilities are available for pick-up games, work outs, and family fun. The playgrounds at the elementary schools are available for community use on weekends, after school and evenings, and throughout the summer.

Many school districts lock down their athletic facilities. PPS opens the gates to the community and it is common to see adults walking and running on the track in the early morning or evening, to see kids engaged in informal soccer, lacrosse and football games, to see families playing together on the fields, and to see children playing in the school playgrounds.

As parents of a high school athlete, we know firsthand that the improvements in the track, fields and bleachers represent overdue maintenance that must be completed to ensure the safety of student athletes and fans. As members of the community we look forward to enjoying these investments long into the future.

Karen A. Jezierny

Gregg R. Smith

Mt. Lucas Rd

———

To the Editor:

As parents of a student-athlete at Princeton High School, we urge Princeton residents to vote YES on Monday, September 24 on the public schools’ referendum. Athletics are an integral and indispensable component of the large majority of our middle and high school students’ educational and social lives. We know from watching our child learn and grow that his participation in school sports is not merely fun, or social, or physically healthful. More significantly, athletics are key to his engagement in academic studies and to his connection with the larger community. Participating in PHS sports instills discipline and promotes his burgeoning senses of purpose, responsibility and citizenship, on and off the fields.

Research demonstrates that athletics participation raises academic achievement, and our experience bears this out. Look at the numbers: more PHS students are participating in sports than ever — almost 90 percent this year. The school’s academic achievement is the envy of the state. There IS a connection. Our much-used athletic facilities for the track, cross-country, soccer, lacrosse, football, field hockey, and baseball teams have long passed their useful life expectancies; replacement and refurbishing are immediately necessary. Support our student-athletes, now and for years to come. Vote YES on Monday, September 24.

Michael and Julie Harrison

Jefferson Rd