Fix The Real Problem - Field Overuse

To the editor: We write as parents, coaches, and community members who care deeply about our kids — their safety, health, and experience on the field. Like everyone in our community, we want Nantucket’s students to have the best, most sustainable athletic facilities we can afford.

The current School Improvement Plan does include important upgrades — a new grandstand, ADA access, and modernized outbuildings — but it fails to address what’s happening on the ground: our fields are dangerously overused.

According to the 2021 Nantucket Field Usage Report, every school field logged around 1,000 hours of use — far beyond the 600 hours a healthy grass field can handle. Overuse leads to unsafe playing conditions, injuries, excessive fertilizer use, and wasted water. Yet the plan simply replaces old grass with new grass — no relief, no change. That’s spending $20.8 million to repeat the same mistake.

We’re also alarmed by the proposed asphalt track, which is unsafe, environmentally harmful, continues to not allow them to host official meets, and would set back a growing program that’s finally gaining momentum. Rubberized tracks — the national standard — are safer, faster, and allow students to perform at a top level. Why spend millions on something that hinders participation and causes injury?

We support the stadium and accessibility improvements, but this plan must also work for the coaches and kids who use the fields and track every day. If we don’t address overuse or explore modern solutions, we’ll stay stuck in the same unsustainable cycle.

With over 70 percent of the student body participating in athletics, this issue is not going away. We need the School Committee to reopen the School Improvement Plan to confront the real problem — field overuse — and create a facilities plan that’s safe, sustainable, and built for the next generation of Nantucket athletes.

Signed,

Kate Garrette and Graham Veysey
On behalf of the following concerned parents, coaches, and community members: