{"id":203632,"date":"2026-03-24T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203632\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:50:08","slug":"parents-upset-as-orange-county-schools-track-is-dug-up-days-before-seasons-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203632\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents upset as Orange County school\u2019s track is dug up days before season\u2019s start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Just days before the start of track season, parents at Legacy Middle School reached out to News 6, mentioning they were concerned after the school\u2019s track was suddenly torn up for construction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">What was once a running track is now piles of dirt and heavy equipment, as crews work to remove the old asphalt and bring the facility up to code. The timing, however, has raised concerns among families and student-athletes preparing for their first meet of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cSo the track is being totally redone. They\u2019re removing the asphalt and then getting it back up to code,\u201d explained Angie Gallo, Orange County Public Schools board member.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">[WATCH: OCPS votes to close 7 schools in Orlando]<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to OCPS, the project that was talked about last year was scheduled to begin over this spring break. Still, with the first meet scheduled for this week, some parents question whether the timing was appropriate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">District leaders say they worked closely with the school\u2019s principal and have a plan in place to keep the season on track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey\u2019ve got a plan for where they can practice and where the track meets will be held,\u201d Gallo said. \u201cI think they\u2019ve got a good plan in place on how to make that work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Parents shared updated schedules showing several changes, including moving what was initially planned as a home meet to an away meet. In fact, all meets this season are now expected to take place off campus. News 6 asked the district about the changes, and officials said the original schedule was set before spring break and updated once new information was received.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">[COVERING ORANGE COUNTY: OCPS to revisit controversial plan to pay recruiter for returning students]<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">In the meantime, students have been practicing in alternative spaces. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey have been practicing on the bus loop and that is asphalt as well,\u201d Gallo said. \u201cThere\u2019s been no hiccups, and they\u2019ll continue to practice and be ready for track season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Construction is expected to continue for the next several weeks. School officials acknowledge the inconvenience but are asking for patience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI know this is tough. It\u2019s never a good time when track season is about to begin and we have a track being overhauled,\u201d Gallo said, \u201cJust be patient \u2014 we do have a plan in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Despite the disruption, Legacy Middle School is still set to begin its track season this week with a meet against Odyssey Middle School.<\/p>\n<p>Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kiwhtN\">Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Just days before the start of track season, parents at Legacy Middle School reached out&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[113,1335,139,141,140,16572,110,28053],"class_list":["post-203632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-education","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-public-schools","tag-sports","tag-track-and-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}