Patching not practical

The gym floor at Wellington High School is symbolic of the district's buildings as a whole. State of the art when it was installed, the rubber flooring has outlived its useful life and must be replaced.

But the school district does not have the funds to replace the floor -- much less entire school buildings that have outlived their useful lives. So maintenance workers patch it as well as they can, taking pieces from under the bleachers to fill in holes in the playing area.

The seams are more than unsightly. They have the potential of being a safety hazard. The cost of replacing it now would certainly be less than replacing it after a player got hurt as the result of tripping on a loose seam.

The school facilities as a whole are in the same condition. At McCormick Middle School, maintenance workers struggle to keep the old lady on life support.

The oldest part of the building dates to 1867, with additions in 1916, 1938, and 1953. Although each part of the building was likely state of the art when it was constructed, the Ohio School Facilities Commission has declared the building has outlived its useful life.

The same is to be said for the stadium and its locker room facilities. These are an embarrassment to the schools when visiting teams have to use these facilities.

We can not continue patching facilities that have outlived their usefulness. We must support our schools and replace these facilities before students get hurt.