One Field Will Not Solve The Problem

To the editor: Based on information provided by the Athletic Director on December 19, 2025, along with feedback from student-athletes, their parents, and other community members, Nantucket Public Schools athletics is facing a clear field usage problem.

My intent with my amendment to Article 12 was to ensure that long-overdue stadium improvements such as ADA-compliant structures, new locker rooms, updated bathrooms and a grass field could pass. By removing the controversial plastic PFAS artificial turf field portion of the article tied to these upgrades my hope was to make it possible for something reasonable to pass without further delays, further irreversible harm to the environment, all while also saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

According to the Athletic Director:

• Fall sports include 12 teams (Varsity, JV and middle school boys and girls soccer, field hockey and football), each practicing for roughly two hours per day, with games two to three times per week lasting between 1.5 and 2.5 hours (with the exception of football, which plays once per week).
• Winter sports do not use the fields.
• Spring sports include 10 teams, also practicing for two hours per day, with games lasting 1.5 to 2.5 hours, two to three times per week.

This amounts to approximately 24 hours of practice time needed each day during the fall season alone. One field will not solve the usage problem…unless it is somehow magically capable of creating an additional 24 hours in the day.

Like many challenges on the island, this is fundamentally a matter of carrying capacity and public school athletics is not immune. The school campus has simply run out of space.

A viable solution to both the space and usage issue lies in a collaborative effort between the Nantucket Land Bank, Nantucket Public Schools, and the Town of Nantucket. Providing recreational opportunities for public use aligns directly with the Nantucket Land Bank’s charter and mission and could be achieved at no additional cost to taxpayers.

The Land Bank has both the land and the capacity to maintain a multi-use recreational facility. All that would be required is a vote by the Land Bank Commission to pursue such a partnership, similar to past collaborations like the deer processing facility and the open space at Wiggles Way.

The notion that a single field will resolve the broader usage issue is not realistic. Moreover, the significant cost to taxpayers for that one field could be avoided through partnership with the Nantucket Land Bank. This is a practical solution to a problem that has been deferred for far too long.

The one thing as parents we all can agree on is we want what is best for our families and future generations. Saddling our children with debt that doesn’t solve the problem is not the best course.

I urge voters to vote NO at the ballot box. There is a better solution it just has not been allowed to be at the table.

Reduce the financial burden on taxpayers and provide sufficient realistic athletic and recreational space for both student-athletes and the broader community through the already established Land Bank charter and mission.

Sincerely,

Meghan Perry