Dear School Board Members

I am writing to echo the concerns of many of our parents regarding the Tommie Barfield Elementary School Baseball Field. As you know, Marco Island experiences the challenge of land scarcity and because of this many youth sports activities must be sacrificed. We find this challenge compounding and further magnified with the growing population of children on our Island. In the past, I have watched yourselves and some of your predecessors work very closely with the community to solve our challenges. One of the greatest examples of this is the Charter Middle School which is located on public school property and to even further this collaboration the building was funded by the School Board. What a shining example of our School Board coming together with solutions that honor our children. I was also there as a concerned parent, watching you help the Marco Island Academy High School with a financial infusion in consideration for the loss of the land on Track K (sadly the ghosts of Tract K and the loss of the land continue to haunt us). I would hope this same type of desire to solve the problems of our current and future children can be achieved regarding the Baseball field. I would ask that you first lead the conversation with a temporary solution that would keep the field open to the youth leagues of Marco and Naples. This would give the parents and the City of Marco time to work with you toward a long-term solution to this challenge. In addition, I would love to engage each of you in conversation regarding the highest and best use of the entire Tommie Barfield complex. A forward-thinking vision of the Tommie Barfield complex could include a total redesign and rebuild to act as a hurricane shelter for those who are most vulnerable within our community, field space with proper fencing and gated areas to allow safety and use both during school hours and access to youth leagues during non-school hours and weekends, also, this forward-thinking philosophy can compensate for the rising population of children on the island and meet their future needs, not to mention the harding and security measures that can be included in the highest and best attempt of protecting the lives of our youth. 

In closing the children of Marco Island are unique in the fact that they are growing in population while the land that supports their education and activities is no longer available. Any help, or collaboration in this area would be for only one reason, to honor, protect and benefit the children of this community and the children of Collier County who attend schools or play sports on Marco. As a concerned parent who has come before the School Board on many occasions and now a resident who represents the community as a proud City Council member, I have a better understanding of what it is like to serve the public and for this reason, I would like to deeply thank you for your service to our County and would love to further to discuss this subject with you.