Why does MCPS pay $60,000 more for artificial turf?

MCPS paid $449,746 for the artificial turf (plastic grass only, not site work) at Richard Montgomery High School in 2008.

MCPS paid $441,694 for the artificial turf (plastic grass only, not site work) at Walter Johnson High School in 2009.

And in 2010, the school system in the article below paid only $388,109 for the artificial turf for their football field.  


All three schools got their plastic grass from the same supplier. Remember MCPS has a no-bid, exclusive deal with one supplier. The one supplier hires their own no-bid "partners" to do the site work. Those charges are in addition to the cost of the plastic grass.


Please don't ask the County Council about this. They are done talking about artificial turf and they think the MCPS artificial turf installations have contracts (they don't) and are the result of bids (they aren't). Don't burst their bubble.

The Dirt on Turf - times-journal.com: News

...Russell Raney, chief financial officer for Cullman City Schools, said the system spent $200,300 for field prep and sub-surface drainage work, and the turf itself cost about $388,109.
FieldTurf comes with an eight-year warranty, and Raney said Cullman officials believe they can get 10 years out of their new field by keeping it well maintained.
Rainey said the expected cost for replacement turf is about $400,000.
He said Cullman football boosters spent about $25,000 a year to maintain their grass field, so in the long term staying with real grass appears to be the cheaper option....