A cold January morning just a few days prior to a rare Florida snow storm, Marc Weeks climbed over a closed fence and took to the track at Godby High School. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr, Mr. Weeks felt that an expression of civil disobedience is appropriate.
For Mr. Weeks, the track and fields are more than just fond high school memories. They are an asset to the community. A place that is taxpayer funded and a vital resource for our community to utilize and become healthier.
Mr. Weeks spoke about various neighbors he met during his runs around the field, prior to it being closed to the public. One neighbor is an elderly woman who would use the tracks to walk due to safety and the flat surface. Mr. weeks points at the parking lot and adds that law enforcement used to park there adding an increase feeling of security. Others neighbors are parents who would bring their kids so they could watch them while they exercised.
Mr. Weeks recalled many years of exercise on the track and in all those years, he never witnessed vandalism. As we spoke he looked out at the empty field, noting the trash blowing across the track. Obviously left there by students and not picked up by maintenance.
Frank S. Shaw III
Frank S. Shaw III was born in 1960 in Tallahassee and has called this city his home ever since. He graduated from Maclay in 1978 and graduated from FSU Law School in 1986. Mr. Shaw served as a major in the United States Army in the 5th Special Forces Group and spent about 6 months in Afghanistan/Uzbekistan/Pakistan.
In the mid seventies he began to utilize the facilities at Leon High School. He could be seen running the steps and running on the track as well as riding his Bike. Starting about 5 years ago he began consistently running the track at Leon.
Mr. Shaw explains his experience since the tracks have closed the gates have remained open at Leon and “every once in a while since then, some pencil neck administrator would try to run me off (I have a funny story about that which includes Chuck Norris)— but I would come back at a later time.”
Mr. Shaw shared the same sentiments as Mr. Weeks about the neighbors that use the tracks outside of school hours. “The people that run out there do not cause and damage or cause any problems whatsoever… Stopping law abiding tax paying citizens will do nothing to prevent vandalism. Who would think it would?”
Mr. Shaw proposed that the district should focus on stopping vandals and those that damage property and suggested the facilities are locked at night and opened in the mornings.
Favored By Administration
Mr. Shaw and Mr. Weeks both express that there are obviously favored groups that the administration allows to use the facilities. This narrative plays out in multiple facets of the district.
Recently nepotism and it’s impact on our community was brought up during a LCS meeting. Others have questioned who the district is contracting with, while even more neighbors have expressed concern over retaliation from the district. Both parents and staff have shared stories of retaliation.
Ultimately we are losing access to a facility which we all pay taxes into. What was once a public asset has now been locked up and the public access is denied. The district did not weigh the costs of the artificial turf fields. Instead they focused on someone’s poorly researched vanity project.
We fight for quality in our public schools while seeing the interest of the administration is not in favor of the public. We compete against private and charter schools. However, we see that the administration’s priorities are in artificial fields, Artificial Podcasts, and attempting to distract the public attention.
We are Better and Stronger together, keep the conversation going. Our representatives are hearing your words, reading your emails, and beginning to question the information they are given.
I’m sorry, I thought Godby was a PUBLIC school. Funded by PUBLIC tax dollars. A community PUBLIC resource. The track and adjoining fields included.
My bad. No soup for me, huh?
Please open the public school tracks during daylight hours, and before and after the public school session, all week, every week.
In every other town where I have lived, public school tracks were open to the public after hours. I strongly believe the tracks should be open. Most people do not have a safe place to walk and run. It seems to me this should be a community right.
Open the tracks. We voted you in and we can vote you out
Public school tracks provide a save environment for the public to exercise. We pay the tax and should not be denied the right to utilize the tracks. Open the tracks back up.
If the turf gets messed up, I bet we’ll have to pay to fix it. So if we’re going to have to pay to fix it either way, then why not let the public have after hours access?