Kinnelon Track Renovations Complete

The newly renovated Kinnelon High School track is now complete and once again available for use by the school and public communities.

"The track is finished, lines are painted," Kinnelon Board of Education Member Denise Hatch told the board at Thursday's meeting.

The school district began a project to renovate the high school track this summer after it had deteriorated since its original installation 12 years ago. Both the the top and base layers were damaged and an engineer advised the board to lay new track surface around the high school field.

Striping was the final phase needed before the track renovations could be complete and Hatch said the lines were recently painted on the surface.

While the track is now open, Interim Superintendent Diane DiGiuseppe said the hours the track will be available to the public will remain limited, as was put into effect last year.

Last year, the board voted to only open up the track for public use in the hours before and after school and not during the school day or when athletic games or practices are scheduled for the fields nearby. Then-Superintendent Jim Opiekun had raised concerns about safety of the high school students, as administrators and teachers did not know exactly who was walking on the track during school hours. Students were also participating in gym classes and using the track at the same time as it was open to the public.

There were concerns for the members of the public using the track during athletic games and practices. Opiekun had said women were walking on the track with strollers and babies when lacrosse balls were flying off the fields.

DiGiuseppe said the district would be posting the exact hours the public would be able to use the track on Kinnelon Public Schools' new website.