Bronx HS denied extension to football field

Students at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx have been denied an extension to their football field, despite state-funded renovations of the school’s athletic facilities set to be completed this fall, according to the New York Times.

At 80 yards, the field is 20 yards too short for regulation contests. As a result, Lehman’s football team has been forced to play home games at other schools, with the team and the school paying the cost of transportation.

It appeared as though the problem would be solved several years ago when the New York City Department of Education granted the financing for renovation of athletic facilities at a number of high schools, which included a $5 million endowment to improve Lehman’s athletic complex.

Officials from the city department explained that to expand the field to regulation length, they would have to buy land adjacent to school property, which is owned by the Unites States Army Corps of Engineers, they said.

However, a spokesperson for the Corps told the New York Times that the Corps owns no land near the high school and that it had sent a letter to the school construction officials in November informing them of that information. Football coaches, student athletes and parents are irate and have been working with lawyers to have the city change the renovation plans. They may file a lawsuit next week. [NYT]