java jo3 wrote:
Unfortunately, there are many who will disagree that school tracks are intended as a public good. They'll view the track as exclusively a training aparatus for their athletes, not the public. Or the benefits of the track stop after their practices end. This is why so many tracks are locked up, in bad condition, or have a lack of basic facilities (why would the students need a bathroom at the track when they can just go to the locker room for the school that views the track as solely for its students).
Public school facilities are owned and operated by the school district, and they're not merely automatically open and accessible to the public, even if you pay property taxes. Allowing the public to use certain facilities is a courtesy of the district, not an automatic right of the public. You can't go into city hall and take a dump on the mayor's desk either.
Those that have access to public school facilities are lucky and should act accordingly. The recourse of those that do not have access is to raise hell at school board meetings, or work to get new school board members elected.