Told I wasn’t allowed to run on a track today

you did the wrong thing. Go on your way and pretend you didn’t hear here.

Yes. Because teachers get to the school before the bell, some way before; because some children get to school early for breakfast; because some schools have before school care with kids showing up close to an hour before the bell; because of safety and the maintenance of school grounds as a protected place for students, parents, faculty, staff and administration; and because it's still important for schools to teach "stranger danger" to children, it is never okay for someone not affiliated with the school to be on the grounds between their posted times... even for just the track.

You should run the hallways of the school and tell them "my tax dollars say I can run this school". Go into the classroom and start using the computer and say "my tax dollars say I bought this and it's a public computer"

I’m just there to run on the track, don’t take this out of context

You're missing Coach's point...

If you can justify tax dollars for track usage then you could justify tax dollars for any facet of the school. And you can't. Let's make one thing clear. Apportionment from the state helps a particular school, and not necessarily the school whose track you'd be using. So technically, you may not even be paying for usage for that school if you're property taxes aren't zoned for it, and if you're a renter, you didn't pay a thing...if you want it really specific.

Ah yes someone is running on the track! Stranger Danger!!

Someone is just coming into an assembly? We have to assume any stranger is just as dangerous as at Uvalde or any other location. So yes. You're not better than the public nor are you a safer presence automatically because you run.

Sue the children

Beyond the money component it's a safety problem. You can't go into your State capital and just start walking anywhere you want right? How about the White House? Those are paid by tax dollars right? Even "public parks" have a tendency to have times you can't be in them (middle of the night). Even if there aren't kids in the school you still can't walk into the school although it's "public".

you just described 2 completely different scenarios

That's a perfectly valid argument. If I visit a public college, I can just wander around inside the buildings. I can head into the main library and ask the front desk for a guest login and then surf the web all day in a computer lab. The younger the students are, the less public the institution makes their public resources.

I chuckled at this post because it made me think back...as kids, we did not want to see strangers on or near campus and neither did our teachers or parents. These are adults wanting to be on a campus for kids after they were kids to do something they want to as adults that has nothing to do with kids. People forget you get one childhood. One.

They are not different to me or school faculty and staff. No doors are ever to be propped even for seconds and most schools and now, you can't let a colleague in, even if you know them..by rule... even if someone breaks it... they must have their own key

Yeah. Good!!! schools don't need creepers.

I said if I saw any students using the track I would have left as soon as I saw them. I was an athlete in HS and would respect any student athletes using the track. I was there to run a workout. I guess I’ll have to go at 5AM next time.

Yes. You solved your problem.

This is the way to do it.

Are your tax dollars used to build public schools? Yes, of course.

How are you not allowed to use it? Just because it was publicly funded doesn't mean the public can do whatever it wants with it. There's still a management and operations process that governs use. Yes, it should be operated for the intended purpose. And yes, the public probably does get some access. But you still need to follow the established procedures.

Your best bet is to try somewhere else where maybe the staff is less concerned about your presence or try a different time of day.

Thank you for the non toxic reply, I’ve never once been told I couldn’t run on a track before so I was surprised. I also have used this specific track many times during school hours and this is the first time someone has told me I wasn’t allowed to use it. When I was in HS 8 years ago people always used our track and simply just used outside lanes On the track if we were doing a workout and our coaches never had a problem with it or told them to leave..

I kind of feel for the OP. A lot of this depends on the school and the surrounding community. We just had a new track put in at the middle school near me. The track was put in on a field that has historically been used by the community for walking dogs and other exercises. The new track was voted on by the community not just for the kids. However, I do believe that the school staff still retain the right to close the track to anyone. I try and get there and be done before those early students start filtering in. 6:30am seems a little early (for the OP), but it's at the staff's discretion.