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NILES -- The board of education on Tuesday discussed why certain fields in the district, including Bo Rein Memorial Stadium, are locked and inaccessible to the public.
During the facilities maintenance committee report given by board President Tony Perrone, board member Kimberly Barrell noted that the stadium looked nice Friday night during Niles McKinley's first varsity football game against Howland, but she questioned why the stadium gates are locked during nonschool hours.
"The stadium did look great," Barrell said. "I'm just wondering, why do we have the stadium locked down still? Like, we have security cameras now, is it possible to open it back up to allow the public to use it for walking or running the steps or whatnot?"
Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen said the stadium likely is locked during school hours for security reasons.
But she said she was not sure why the facility is locked in other circumstances.
"I actually don't really know why it's locked up," Thigpen said. "I think it's locked during the school day because we're connected basically to the building. But all the doors are locked around the building, so that is a good conversation to have."
Barrell said some residents have brought concerns to the board regarding accessibility of the stadium.
She said people like to use the facility after school hours or on weekends to exercise.
"Back in the day, people were able to go there to exercise," she said.
"I know we don't have a track now, but people can walk, run the steps, those kind of things. Kids are going to other districts to use their facilities."
Perrone said the field has been locked since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that, like many other districts, Niles began locking the stadium as a precautionary measure. Perrone said it would not be a big deal to have it reopened.
"Other communities are doing it and have reopened their facilities," Perrone said. "It's just something I think that we've continued and maintained and lost track of."
Thigpen said physical education classes at McKinley typically use the facility throughout the week during the day. But, she said the district will work on having the field open to the public during after-school hours and on weekends, as long as it does not impede other events or athletic practices.
In a similar vein, Barrell asked why the field outside of the board of education's administration building -- where the meeting was held Monday -- is not open for public use. Barrell said in the past, the field had been a place where residents could take their kids or pets to play.
"It's such a big, nice, fenced-in area, and no one ever uses it," Barrell said.
Thigpen said in past years, the field near the administrative building had been opened for use. The superintendent said the field adjacent to the office was locked four years ago because of issues with pets.
"It was kind of like a dog park and unfortunately, not everyone picked up after their dogs," Thigpen said. "It's locked all the time. But, right now, our Head Start Program kids who rent that part of the building, they use that as their play area."
The superintendent said girls soccer practices were being held at the administrative building field and because of the dog waste, it was beginning to become a mess.
Thigpen said she has seen residents climb over the fence to access the field.
Thigpen said she would be willing to have the field by the office reopened. She said she would like to see more signage encouraging pet owners to clean up after their animals and more trash cans to dispose of waste.