The Montgomery County Council supported the installation of the field that would slowly bake the children.
The field went in.
Now we see that the plastic is heating up just as predicted. On a school day in October, the Somerset ES plastic playground registered 126 degrees. Below is the field test report from October 9, 2018.
Somerset Elementary School ... by on Scribd
Somerset Elementary School ... by on Scribd
Two comments: 1. the council vote was unanimous in favor of this installation. 2. the Somerset funds are only for initial installation. Any repairs or replacement of this field comes out of our county tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe above comments are incorrect. Somerset Foundation has paid and continues to pay for continuing maintenance and repairs. Also, the field is infilled with organic cork, not rubber as the chart shows.
ReplyDeleteThe field is maintained DAILY. Please explain how the Somerset Foundation is paying and who they are paying to maintain the field on a DAILY basis.
DeleteAnd who is paying to replace this plastic playground when it fails? The taxpayers. That was also discussed in the public meetings on this purchase, so let's be clear about who is paying for the DAILY maintenance required of this sheet of plastic and who is on the hook when it has to be removed.
Delete@MCPS Feel free to put out a press release on this issue. If you want to say that FieldTurf lied, that's on you to put that information out. If you want to say it's OK that children are being slowly baked while at recess, that's your choice. If you want to explain who is providing DAILY maintenance to this public school playground, go for it.
ReplyDeletehttp://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2018/10/somerset-es-not-viable-for-use-by.html
Somerset PTA and Foundation pay for regular maintenance. The infill is organic cork, not crumb rubber. The materials used were tested for toxicity. I question the accuracy of the temperature reading but will look to Field Turf to clarify that.
ReplyDeleteThe field is a big sheet of plastic. Plastic heats up in the sun. This is a well known fact and the temperature of this field has been taken multiple times and these numbers are known and consistent with the heat generated by a piece of plastic spread out over the ground. Painting it green doesn't make it cooler. It's plastic.
DeleteWhen FieldTurf said the Gaithersburg HS field was 112 degrees on an 80 degree day, what was that?
When FieldTurf said the Wootton HS field was 120 degrees on an 80 degree day, what was that?
This was all known and thoroughly discussed in public meetings prior to the Somerset ES parents and Mayor demanding this plastic playground for students.