A letter to the editor in the Oct. 30 edition of the Port Washington News questioned the appropriateness of permitting "private sports clubs" to use the school athletic fields. As used in that letter, the term "private sports clubs" seemed to falsely imply that the clubs are groups of adults who have no place using the school fields.

The clubs that use the school facilities, such as the PAL, PYA and PWSC, are not-for-profit, community-based organizations operated by local parents for the benefit of local children. The issue is whether our school children should be allowed access to their own school playing fields and gyms outside of school hours.

The misuse of the term "private sports clubs" has gone beyond being merely tedious. I'll welcome an honest and open public debate about how we should accommodate our children's need for playing fields. Using the term "private sports clubs" to describe the PAL, PYA, CYO and PWSC has become deliberately misleading. The term is being misused by people who have something other than the best interests of the community's children at heart. We should all question the motives of anyone who uses the term in a negative manner.

Robert T. Schill