Written by Carol P. Bartold     

Feb. 18, 2015: The 14-vote defeat of Proposition 2 in the January 22 referendum to reconfigure The Bronxville School's Hayes Field as a synthetic turf field gave rise to substantial vocal support for a revote at the February 12 Bronxville Board of Education meeting. 

Board of education president Denise Tormey announced the final referendum results to a large audience of students, parents, and village residents, and the board approved resolutions to accept those results. Bronxville voters approved Proposition 1 with 868 "yes" votes to 55 "no" votes to authorize the school district to issue $900,000 in tax-free bonds to fund the district's share of the cost of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Midland Valley Drainage Project, known as the flood mitigation project.

Proposition 2, which would have authorized the board to use up to $2.2 million in capital reserve funds for the Hayes Field project, received 454 "yes" votes and 468 "no" votes, leaving the district and board to grapple with an unfinished Hayes Field or the field's not being ready for play in the fall.

"We are gathering data," Tormey said, "and we'll be evaluating various alternatives to ensure that the consequences of not having that field in playing condition in the fall will not result in the cancellation of seasons or terminations of programs."

Bronxville High School seniors Lucy Kohlhoff and Katy Toal, varsity soccer players, presented the board with a petition signed by 253 students calling for the board to reconfigure Hayes Field as a regulation-size synthetic turf field using the most environmentally safe materials available.

The petition expresses dismay over the Proposition 2 vote. The document states that the district has insufficient fields available for teams to perform at their competitive best and points out that practices and games, especially for modified teams, are often cancelled. In addition, the petition describes Hayes Field as "in terrible condition and not fit for recreation, games, or practices."

"We have 12 teams trying to find practice space. Four of those in the fall are varsity teams," Toal said. "Whenever there is a home game or a track meet, even if it's a modified football game, all four varsity teams will be kicked off the turf field [Chambers Field]." Those teams are forced to practice on the former Christmas tree lot, which is too small to accommodate the soccer team, or on Hayes Field, whose conditions she described as terrible, especially after a rain.

"In fact," Toal said, "the soccer team never practiced on a full turf field until all the other teams had been eliminated."

Speaking in support of the petition, senior Charlotte Warble emphasized that a turf field remains available for play despite unfavorable weather conditions. Tim Sullivan, a Bronxville High School senior and six-year varsity athlete, also advocated for a revote on the Hayes Field issue on the basis that a turf field would allow teams to accomplish more effective drills in preparing for competition.

Parent Rose Crawford, all of whose children have played on varsity teams, encouraged the board to consider a revote on the turf field issue. A grass field on top of the flood mitigation equipment would not solve anyone's problems, she said, as the poor weather conditions would continue to limit the field's use.

Crawford addressed parents of elementary school students who have not yet taken advantage of the school's athletic opportunities when she said, "You will be very disappointed and frustrated with field space conflicts for practices and games, game cancellations due to weather or darkness, and all teams' limitations in experiencing full-field practices and drills prior to a competition."

Tracy Tarry, parent of a varsity athlete, stated that a grass Hayes Field "is not only inconsistent with Bronxville's goal of providing excellence in all aspects of education, like the auditorium, the science labs, and the Google Chromebooks, it is substandard. It is dangerous."

Wake Smith, founder of the Bronxville Youth Lacrosse Association, noted that the program has grown from 15 participants in 2002 to 550 registered participants. With no new fields created in the village, he said, the program's growth has exerted great pressure on existing facilities.

"If we're going to continue with the kind of athletic activity we have built up in Bronxville, which has been an enormous benefit to all sorts of people in the community," Smith said, "we need to get the greater utility out of the fields that turf affords us."

The board took no action on calling for a revote regarding Hayes Field, but Denise Tormey stated that a revote would be possible with the same 45-day public notice that was given for the original referendum.

The Bronxville Board of Education will meet on Thursday, March 19, at 7:00 pm in the school's multipurpose room.

Pictured here: Façade of The Bronxville School.

Photo by A. Warner