Trick Play

YES - it is very sad that someone at the school is really pushing hard to pit the residents against the students. The residents want to support the school and the students. In fact, several residents have tried to approach the principal to discuss how the community can work with the school to control truancy issues, crime and even boost fundraising for the school, but he has been non-responsive and seems pretty dead set on pushing his agenda through without regard for how it impacts the residents. The real concern most residents have is the impact the field lighting will have on the residents. That concern is REAL and due to the FACT that there is already a very long track record of the school not assisting the residents with issues related to trash, traffic, noise and drug use around the field by the groups that use the field during the evenings and weekends. With lights, that means not only will weekends be filled with field use, but so will the nights. More problems arise at night - just look at the existing crime reports around the school. A teacher at Hoover made some comments about how the residents should not complain because we bought a house by the school, well when a lot of people bought their homes, the field was not new and there were not lights. So the use of the field was never a big concern for residents, but over the past few years it has been and the residents have tried to get the school to be responsive, but the administration has not been willing to work with the community. Only now, because the residents have decided enough is enough, has the district started to listen. But they are still not listening to the real concern - the lights issue. Someone even made a comment that the residents are calling the students criminals and that the students are the problem. This is an example of how individuals associated with the school are trying to create a larger divide between the school and the residents. The residents never once said those things, that was never given as a reason for opposition to the lights at any meeting or on the resident website. In fact, on the bajatalmadge.org website, in an article regarding friday night lights, it says that it is not the students on the field causing the problems - it is some of the spectators and other individuals who come to the nightly events that are causing the crime issues. The school says they will limit the number of events, but they have gone back and forth on how many events there will be, not to mention they are very vague about when and where that will be put in writing. It is really just a lame attempt to try to provide a false sense of hope to residents, because in the end, this is really about money - not the students. That field is a money generator for the district, no matter what they say, they are not going to spend thousands of dollars on field lighting to then be limited on how often they can use them.
— March 22, 2009 3:17 p.m.

Hoover High Towers

I WILL REPEAT IT ONCE AGAIN... well it might help if you did a little research before you posted your uninformed opinion... If you had you would have found out that the lights were removed due to violence issues, the area has existing crime problems and there have been issues with the schools activities on the field that have not been addressed even when the residents have requested assistance from the school many times. Also most of these issues were not a problem when the majority of residents bought their homes, they arose from a new field being installed and the school renting the field out after normal school hours. There is not an issue with activity during normal school hours the majority of issues occur after school hours. But if you lived in our neighborhood or even owned a house maybe you would have been better informed.
— January 21, 2009 2:31 p.m.

Friday Night Lights

well it might help if you did a little research before you posted your uninformed opinion... If you had you would have found out that the lights were removed due to violence issues, the area has existing crime problems and there have been issues with the schools activities on the field that have not been addressed even when the residents have requested assistance from the school many times. Also most of these issues were not a problem when the majority of residents bought their homes, they arose from a new field being installed and the school renting the field out after normal school hours. There is not an issue with activity during normal school hours the majority of issues occur after school hours. But if you lived in our neighborhood or even owned a house maybe you would have been better informed.
— January 20, 2009 8:30 p.m.