To The Reader’s Forum:

The State of New York and the tax payers of the Jamestown Public School system have generously funded over $150 million in capital improvements to the schools and facilities of this school system over the past 20 years. However to take a look around our city today and view the grounds, sports fields, and overall building conditions you would have a hard time finding these investments being taken care of.

From un-mowed lawns and dying trees, to the gem that is Strider Field often being strewn with litter, weeds, and bleachers screaming for a pressure wash, to the embarrassing conditions of Jamestown High School; our community and our students deserve better! It is foolish to expect that our schools and facilities will continually be renovated by overly generous state funded capital projects. We need to implore Dr. Apthorpe and Carl Pillittieri (Director of Buildings and Grounds) to evaluate our maintenance staffs, the existing conditions of our schools, and develop a maintenance plan that leaves these schools and grounds as a gem of our community and not the deplorable condition they have been found in the past couple of years.

Many of our community’s students grow up in impoverished homes and often see the remnants of abandoned factories and buildings. The facilities of the Jamestown Public School system need to not only be a place for education and growth, but also a place for these students to experience the antithesis of what they often see around Jamestown and feel pride in their community and what they are striving for daily.

Dr. Apthorpe and Mr. Pillittieri, we the community of Jamestown ask you to take a look around our district and clean up our school grounds and buildings as we the tax payers and students of this community deserve better!

Michael Johnson

Jamestown