County school board renews debate over artificial turf vs. grass fields during proposed capital budget review

 Article in Bethesda Today, reporter Ashlyn Campbell. for the full story go here.

Reminder this blog posted a series of investigation articles into the county Board of Education and County Council decision to use dangerous artificial turf instead of natural sod, including climate issues, and finances. 

We have sod farmers in our Agricultural Reserve but instead our tax dollars are being used to purchase artificial turf from refurbished carpet factories in Georgia. In addition these turf fields are heat islands that can be seen from space, giving lie to the idea that the Board of Education and the County Council believe there is such a thing as climate change. Clearly they do not.

From the Bethesda Today article:

MCPS staff say synthetic surface can be utilized by more athletes, community members

Six high schools are set to get either new synthetic turf fields or replacement fields as part of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) proposed six-year capital improvements program (CIP), a plan that sparked debate among county school board members Tuesday over whether the district should move forward with turf or explore installing more natural grass fields.  

MCPS Athletics Director Jeffrey Sullivan and Capital Budget and Projects Manager Donald Connelly joined the school board Tuesday to talk about the proposal for fields during a CIP work session at the school board headquarters at 15 W. Gude Drive in Rockville. They discussed the costs, benefits and drawbacks of natural and turf fields as part of the board’s review of the district’s $2.7 billion proposed CIP plan.  

In recent weeks, the board has held several work sessions to review the proposed CIP, and is expected to vote on the proposal during its Nov. 20 business meeting.