In 2013, MCPS told Fairfax their Artificial Turf Fields were being Tested by Manufacturer. Now MCPS Claims No GMAX Test Results Exist Before 2017.

Remember that Gmax scores are used to determine how hard an artificial turf football field is.  Artificial turf fields are plastic grass over stone, filled in with crumb rubber or another substance to cushion falls and blows on the field.

The plastic grass must be of a certain height to hold in the required level of crumb rubber or other substance.  If the plastic grass breaks and can no longer hold enough crumb rubber or other infill the field will be as hard as the stones underneath.  The hardness is measured by GMAX testing.

Parents would like to know what the GMAX scores have been for MCPS artificial turf fields since they were first installed in 2009.

MCPS told Fairfax County in 2013 that MCPS artificial turf fields were being tested.  But last month, MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman wrote that MCPS does not have any GMAX reports before 2017.  

How did MCPS lose all the GMAX reports from 2009 - 2016, including the ones in 2016 that were made public by Forbes?  (Someone please send MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman a link to the Forbes article for his files?)

MCPS isn't trying to hide anything, are they?  Here's the e-mail from MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman from March 23, 2018.

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From: Zuckerman, Andrew 
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2018 6:33 AM
To: Spielberg, Debbie
Cc: Elrich's Office, Councilmember; Berliner's Office, Councilmember; Rice's Office, Councilmember; casey.andersong; Riley, Mike; BOE; Song, James C; Howard, Craig; Levchenko, Keith; Tibbitts, Dale; Smith, Jack; Durso, Michael A; Docca, Judy; McGuire, Essie
Subject: Re: Clarification RE: Letter regarding athletic fields

Good Morning,

We do not have GMAX test reports prior to last school year.

Andy Zuckerman

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Andrew Zuckerman

Chief Operating Officer

Montgomery County Public Schools

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From 2013 Fairfax County report on artificial turf: 

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/plandev/synthetic-turf-taskforce-report072013.pdf