It looks like Roosevelt students may get a soccer field after all.

After weeks of the Bridgeport Board of Education threatening to halt construction of a soccer field at the new Roosevelt School, board attorney Thomas Mooney told them in an email that they did not have the authority to halt or stop the construction process.

Chair Sauda Baraka called for an executive session on Mooney’s findings, likely to hatch some legal maneuvering outside of the public’s purview.

Luckily, a majority of the board seem to be interested in compromise rather than legal action. The vote failed, with all but Baraka voting against going into executive session.

Mooney’s wasn’t the only legal opinion offered at last night’s meeting. City Attorney Mark Anastasi also weighed in on the issue.

As readers may remember, it was the teacher’s union that spearheaded the push to replace the soccer field at Roosevelt with a parking lot because they were unhappy that some teachers might have to park across the street from the school it a lighted, secure lot.

The union argued that the 55 off-site parking spots (across the street) did not fulfill the requirements of their contract, which says that the district must provide “adequate parking at schools.”

Anastasi did not agree. The city attorney told the board that they “have absolutely no contractual obligation to do anything different than you have done or will do.”

In the end, all but Baraka voted to approve the current site plan, with the request that the city see if they can find room for an additional 15 on-site parking spots without removing the soccer field.

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