- We, the undersigned residents, parents, and community members, call on the Town leadership and Board of Education to immediately end the use of the Western Middle School field as a parking lot for school buses.
For nearly two months, school buses have been parked and idled daily on the grass field at Western Middle School — a shared community space meant for students and families. This situation reflects a series of poor decisions that prioritize convenience and cost-cutting over community well-being, environmental protection, and transparency.
We are deeply concerned about:
- Environmental damage: The school field has been degraded by heavy vehicles. Will the grass and soil now require full remediation? What will the cost be to restore the area — potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars or more?
- Air quality and health impacts: Children are learning and playing in close proximity to idling buses. Has any assessment of air quality been conducted to ensure student safety?
- Equity and fairness: Why is Western Middle School bearing this burden alone? Why were no alternative or shared parking sites identified?
- Transparency and oversight: Was this parking arrangement reviewed and approved as part of the new bus contract? If not, how was this decision made?
This is not just about one field or one school — it’s about accountability, environmental responsibility, and the health of our children.
We demand that the Town and Board of Education:
- Immediately stop using the Western Middle School field for bus parking;
- Assess and publicly report any environmental or health impacts;
- Commit to restoring the field and ensuring long-term remediation;
- Review and improve the decision-making process that allowed this situation to occur.
Our schools and community spaces should reflect our shared values — care, respect, and responsibility. We urge our leaders to act now to protect Western Middle School and restore trust with the families they serve.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
November 17, 2025
31 Comments
After so many years of the fields at Western being unusable, and the fields just being reopened last season, it is an insult to Western families and and shows an unfortunate lack of respect for the resources made available to WMS students and the surrounding neighborhood.
Can someone explain, in plain English, why Western Middle School was chosen as the place to park buses that obviously leak brake fluid and oil (as all yellow buses do) onto the newly installed turf? Why didn’t the Board of Education choose to park these buses, for example, on the lush green lawns of Sacred Heart or Greenwich Academy instead?
How will buses leave the field and complete their routes safely and on time when this field is covered in ice?
My daughter injured her ankle running on the slanted hill in gym because of the buses taking up the space.
This makes zero sense given the fact that it took years to redo the fields at Western middle school. Students who went without a field their entire middle school years and now to have this?
There’s also significant increased risk to pedestrian safety in the area including students and faculty.
What happened to the soil remediation project?
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- We, the undersigned residents, parents, and community members, call on the Town leadership and Board of Education to immediately end the use of the Western Middle School field as a parking lot for school buses.
For nearly two months, school buses have been parked and idled daily on the grass field at Western Middle School — a shared community space meant for students and families. This situation reflects a series of poor decisions that prioritize convenience and cost-cutting over community well-being, environmental protection, and transparency.
We are deeply concerned about:
- Environmental damage: The school field has been degraded by heavy vehicles. Will the grass and soil now require full remediation? What will the cost be to restore the area — potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars or more?
- Air quality and health impacts: Children are learning and playing in close proximity to idling buses. Has any assessment of air quality been conducted to ensure student safety?
- Equity and fairness: Why is Western Middle School bearing this burden alone? Why were no alternative or shared parking sites identified?
- Transparency and oversight: Was this parking arrangement reviewed and approved as part of the new bus contract? If not, how was this decision made?
This is not just about one field or one school — it’s about accountability, environmental responsibility, and the health of our children.
We demand that the Town and Board of Education:
- Immediately stop using the Western Middle School field for bus parking;
- Assess and publicly report any environmental or health impacts;
- Commit to restoring the field and ensuring long-term remediation;
- Review and improve the decision-making process that allowed this situation to occur.
Our schools and community spaces should reflect our shared values — care, respect, and responsibility. We urge our leaders to act now to protect Western Middle School and restore trust with the families they serve.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
November 17, 2025
31 Comments
The buses are causing damage and negatively impact the students at WMS. The narrow and very populated streets near the school are also affected by this additional traffic and congestion. The “temporary” solution of using WMS as a parking lot is about to enter its fifth month. This needs to be addressed immediately.
After so many years of the fields at Western being unusable, and the fields just being reopened last season, it is an insult to Western families and and shows an unfortunate lack of respect for the resources made available to WMS students and the surrounding neighborhood.
Can someone explain, in plain English, why Western Middle School was chosen as the place to park buses that obviously leak brake fluid and oil (as all yellow buses do) onto the newly installed turf? Why didn’t the Board of Education choose to park these buses, for example, on the lush green lawns of Sacred Heart or Greenwich Academy instead?
How will buses leave the field and complete their routes safely and on time when this field is covered in ice?
My daughter injured her ankle running on the slanted hill in gym because of the buses taking up the space.
This makes zero sense given the fact that it took years to redo the fields at Western middle school. Students who went without a field their entire middle school years and now to have this?
There’s also significant increased risk to pedestrian safety in the area including students and faculty.
What happened to the soil remediation project?
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The buses are causing damage and negatively impact the students at WMS. The narrow and very populated streets near the school are also affected by this additional traffic and congestion. The “temporary” solution of using WMS as a parking lot is about to enter its fifth month. This needs to be addressed immediately.