$86,493.50 WJHS Football Field Surprise

Remember when the Parents' Coalition exposed that Superintendent Jerry Weast had installed a $432,500 "temporary" grass football field at Walter Johnson High School? 


The temporary grass football field was put in place for just 5 home football games. Then it was ripped up (shown in image at left) and replaced with a $1.2 million artificial turf football field.  Superintendent Weast's response was that the grass field would be "relocated." But Superintendent Weast did not disclose the cost of "relocation" of a grass football field. And the Board of Education didn't ask. 


It took a Maryland Public Information Act request to MCPS to find out the facts. The documents obtained by the Parents' Coalition are shown below.  Now we know why the Board of Education didn't want to discuss this project in a public meeting. 


We now know that the "relocation" of the grass football field cost taxpayers $86,493.50.  That puts the total known expenditure for the Walter Johnson High School football stadium project at:


$1,718,993.50. 


That's the cost of a grass field (per MCPS cost given to County Council), plus the cost of an artificial turf field, plus the cost of "removal" of the WJHS grass, and "relocation" of the WJHS grass.   


Here's what the documents show:

• December 14, 2009: MCPS Staff authorized $25,928.00 to be spent on the Walter Johnson High School football field.  Actual final cost appears to have been $21,016.20. Note an expenditure of $25,000 must be approved by the Board of Education, but there is no evidence of the Board ever approving this expenditure. 

• December 23, 2009: MCPS Staff authorized $15,726.10 to be spent in part, on moving "soil" from Walter Johnson High School to Wheaton High School. 

Who made the decision to put a new football field in at Wheaton High School? Where exactly is the ranking of football field replacements in the Capital Budget?  

• May 21, 2010: Invoice for $49,751.20 for new Wheaton High School football field.  Did Wheaton High School really get truckloads of frozen grass in January from Walter Johnson High School? Or did MCPS just move some "soil" over from Walter Johnson High School and add new sod? (See page 6 - the word is "soil")

And you might notice references to Contract #9398.2 and #9161.2 in these documents. What are those contracts? #9398.2, is the Retaining Walls and Stormwater Management contract. We don't know what #9161.2 is. 



9398.2 Retaining Walls and Stormwater Management
Modifications—Extension**
Awardee
Walker Willis/T/A Custom Masonry $300,000


WJHS Football Field Removal