There sure are plenty of school board meetings about whether or not to fund pool renovations.

February 17, the school board met in the Little Theater to decide the fate of the pool once and for all—that is to say, whether or not to give it nearly $5 million in funding or to save the money for something else.

In this case, "something else" included projects like roof work, repairing the outdoor track, and replacing the pool with an expanded maker lab similar to the one in Room C4.

Several people in attendance argued for some of these projects.

There was also opposition from citizens concerned that the pool renovation would raise their property taxes. Leading the charge on this issue was former school board member Mrs. Tracy Longo.

However, those who were in favor of funding the pool renovation, such as swim team members, their parents, and other community members far outnumbered those in the theater who opposed funding pool renovation.

Speaking on behalf of their pool, one swim team student junior Nick Mathias addressed the board.

"I felt like it was important to let the board know why it was important for them to renovate our pool," said Mathias.

There were several members of both camps who spoke on their respective issues. Specifically, in favor of repairing the track, Mrs. Emily O'Leary provided the board pictures of where the track was in horrible disrepair.

After over an hour of deliberations with many, many speakers for both sides of the issue, it finally came to a vote. In a 6-3 vote, the board approved providing the pool with nearly $5 million in repairs and renovations.

Board member Mrs. Robyn Johnson explained some of her reasoning in voting to fund the pool project.

"I am a firm believer that as a taxpayer in this district, the values of our homes are directly impacted by the quality of our schools," Johnson said.

On the other side of the issue, Mrs. Dikec explained voting against the measure.

"My decision was based on the fact that we have quite a few new members on our school board, and our facilities committee had not yet had the opportunity to meet. It's important for our facilities committee to be informed and up-to-date, because there are many things currently in need of attention," Mrs. Dikec said.

Repairs to the pool will begin this spring.

Student reactions to the pool's newfound funding were mixed.

Senior Grace Stovka, who attended the meeting on behalf of the track team, was happy with the result.

"I’m glad the board agreed to fix the pool," Stovka said despite her hopes for track repairs.

But not all students see the pool’s value.

"The pool should be filled with concrete and given to [social studies teacher] Mr. Inge. [Swimmer and diver] Andrew Cestra [graduated], is anyone even using it anymore?" said sophomore Adam Klenovitch.