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

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.   

The CIP calls for the district to spend $15 million during fiscal year 2027 for six turf installations or replacements. The amount also includes money for three or four playground replacements...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2025/11/13/mcps-turf-debate/

Federal judge grants settlement approval in FieldTurf USA lawsuit that included N.J. schools (But Not for MCPS. MCPS Did Not Bother To Participate.)

A federal court judge has given final settlement approval to a proposed class action multi-district lawsuit by plaintiffs in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and California who claimed they were sold defective synthetic field turf by FieldTurf, USA...

...The total settlement value for more than 1,200 class action members nationwide exceeds $50 million in cash and in credits, according to Law.com.

The settlement on Friday allows plaintiffs to each collect cash from the class action or they can claim credits to have FieldTurf install new artificial turf. Each is entitled to $7,500 in cash compensation or $50,000 in credits for new turf, Law.com reported...

https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2024/12/federal-judge-grants-settlement-approval-in-fieldturf-usa-lawsuit-that-included-nj-schools.html

#FlipTheTurf: It’s Time to Swap NFL Stadium Turf for Real Grass

Of the 32 teams in the NFL, 16 teams still play on artificial turf, despite the undeniable risk it poses to both players and the environment. It’s time to play smarter with Pennington.

The numbers don’t lie:

• 28% more non-contact lower body injuries.*
  
  32% more non-contact knee injuries.*
  
  And 69% more non-contact foot and ankle injuries occurred on turf.*
• Turf can get up to 60 degrees hotter than natural grass, increasing the rate at which toxic gases are released and ingested.**
• 90% of NFL players believe artificial turf will shorten their careers.*** 

And the issue is bigger than just football. 

• Currently, turf can’t be recycled in the US, leading to an estimated 330 million pounds of landfill waste each year, and microplastics in our water and irrigation systems.**** 
• On average, one turf field requires over 440,000 pounds of petroleum derivatives. The production of which emits carbon, creates fossil fuels, and contributes to global warming. **** 
• Unlike grass, turf does not cool the environment. It does not filter air and water pollutants. It does not fix carbon dioxide or release oxygen. Turf has zero climate benefits.***** 

As pioneers of the grass industry, Pennington believes in working with nature, not against it. That’s why we’re rallying for change. 

Every signature we get applies pressure to the NFL and its team owners to face the facts and make the flip to a more sustainable field. If they say yes, we’ll bring the grass— no questions asked. And we won’t stop pushing until all 32 NFL teams ditch the turf. Because every game the NFL allows to play out on turf actively puts their own players at risk. And in turn, our planet. 

Sign this petition to join the movement to #FlipTheTurf.

 

 

*Based on NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018

**Based on 2007 Columbia University study in New York City

***Based on 2010 NFLPA Survey

****Based on 2017 Synthetic Turf Council data detailing an average 440,000 lbs of turf and infill per sports field and an estimated 750 fields being replaced in 2018 

*****The University of Arkansas, “Turfgrass Science” Study, 2009

https://www.change.org/p/fliptheturf-it-s-time-to-swap-nfl-stadium-turf-for-real-grass?recruiter=1253975818&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=8d90bdb0-90e0-11ec-b99e-0135b59629b9&share_bandit_exp=initial-32289362-en-US

MCPS Shipping 200+ Tons of Crumb Rubber Infill to Maine School #artificialturf #WJHS #crumbrubber

Half of the 229 one ton bags of crumb rubber removed from the WJHS failed artificial turf field.

WJHS crumb rubber.
Each bag is 1 ton of ground up tires. 

MCPS has now announced what will happen to the 200+ tons of crumb rubber removed from the failed Walter Johnson High School artificial turf football field. 

Most of the 220 tons of crumb rubber will be shipped to Maine where it will be used as infill for a school field in the town of East Machias, Maine.  The school is in a very rural area and serves both private and public school students. 

Walter Johnson High School ... by Parents' Coalition of Montg... on Scribd

And the Somerset Elementary School artificial turf playground is coming apart. #surprised? #2YearsOld

The picture to the left shows a section of the Somerset Elementary School playground where the artificial turf is coming apart at a seam.

The picture below shows the temperature of the Somerset Elementary School artificial turf playground on July 14th.  Should children be playing on a surface that is 146 degrees?  Do the children go out for recess when the field is 146 degrees during the school year?

The Somerset Elementary School parents were allowed by the Board of Education to raise money to put in their own artificial turf field.  Who is going to be funding the repairs to this two year old artificial grass field?  

Richard Montgomery HS gets Replacement Plastic Grass from MCPS Operating Budget, No Outside Sponsor

Turf replacement has officially started!!! It was a great 10 years with lots of amazing games and  memories, look forward to another great 10 years with our new turf pic.twitter.com/GFEH98gPeE

— Rockets Athletics (@RMRockets_AD) July 17, 2018

**BOE Finds $562,721 for Plastic Grass at RM High School.** Not Money for Teachers, Classrooms, Lead Remediation, Mold Remediation, Repairs, Grass Seed... BOE Intentionally Let Warranty EXPIRE! Did Council Appropriate these Funds for this Purpose?

The Montgomery County Board of Education intentionally let the warranty on the defective Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field expire and now they are going to use $562,721 of Operating Budget funds to replace this one plastic football field. 

The MCPS Real Estate department has been squirreling aways cash.  This money will be used to buy a new plastic field for Richard Montgomery High School.  Those funds are not listed in the MCPS Operating Budget documents in any discoverable location.  The image to the left shows the only mention of this fund in the FY19 MCPS Operating Budget.

Note that the Resolution (below) before the Board of Education on June 25, 2018, does not mention any approriation of these funds by the County Council.

The money in this "fund" has allegedly come in to MCPS through outside sources and is being immediately diverted to pay for plastic football fields without any discussion of the best use of these public school dollars. 

Probably the biggest source of cash for this fund is coming from Cell Tower revenue. 

That means that the high FARMS rate schools that have cell towers on their playgrounds and fields are paying for the plastic grass purchase at Richard Montgomery High School.  

In addition, MCPS has used Field Trip fees to fund Artificial Turf purchases. 

Remember that the actual Artificial Turf PLAN was that these fields would pay for themselves through field rental fees.  That has not happened. 

The Board of Education has not provided the public with an accounting for the funds being used to pay for the Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field replacement nor are they bringing these outside funds before the County Council for appropriation. 

The failure to present a transparent budget Resolution to the public is on the Board of Education members four of whom are candidates in this year's elections. 

   Award Cont Replace Turf Richard Montgomery HS by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Audio: Leventhal "I'd like to feel we are providing some oversight"

Audio of July 1, 2010 Montgomery County Council Transportation, Energy & Environment Hearing on artificial turf on county fields. 

The stated focus of this hearing was to address the environmental issues related to artificial turf.  At the conclusion of this hearing the Council committee requested that a report be created to address the following questions:

• life cycle cost comparison of natural grass versus artificial turf
• water quality of runoff from natural grass versus artificial turf (use Blair HS field)
• environmental impact
• maintenance
• fertilizer

The Work Group has now issued their draft report. Unfortunately, the Work Group did not get their report to the committee by the end of 2010 as requested, and did not cover all of the issues requested by the Council committee.  The committee consisted of Councilmembers Nancy Floreen, Roger Berliner and George Leventhal.

Here is an index of the discussion found in this audio recording of the July 1, 2010 T&E Committee hearing. 

Minute:
4:20 Start of Artificial Turf discussion - Council staffer Keith Levchenko opens the discussion.
8:35 Joe Lavorgna "with MCPS" introductory remarks
14:16 Berliner on cost effectiveness test
17:20 Leventhal on disposal of artificial turf - is infill recycled car tires?
19:00 Joe Lavorgna "with MCPS" answers YES infill is recycled car tires and can all be recycled

20:25 Exclusive artificial turf vendor (FieldTurf) called to the table
22:10 Berliner statement on Council monitoring artificial turf in 6 months and Leventhal statement on not practice of Council to call vendor to give comment at a public hearing. Leventhal speaks to vendor pitching their product at public comment table. 
27:00 Field Turf Regional Manager speaks to recycling of artificial turf "every single component will be recycled"
28:00 Berliner, "put that in writing"
29:00 Leventhal, "how was this vendor selected"-  MCPS Director James Song, "product review that we went through - thorough review - intent to continue with Field Turf" - "not competitively bid" 

31:00 Leventhal - should give guidance to MCPS that artificial turf will be recycled - "this one vendor may or may not be the future vendor" [Note Field Turf has an exclusive deal with Montgomery County for 5 Years, yet this was not disclosed at this hearing]
32:00 Leventhal, "I'd like to feel that we are exercising some oversight. That we are providing some push here...We're not just a passive recipient of assurances from the school system, that we are actually guiding the process to some degree."
33:00 Floreen on no recycling will be required of Montgomery County facilities
34:30 Berliner on water quality issues associated with artificial turf
35:40 Lavorgna "with MCPS" we are not doing any  water sampling of the water runoff from the artificial turf fields"

44:00 Leventhal "are artificial turf fields safe for the environment"
47:00 Leventhal "the rain comes down"

50:00 Leventhal "90 day study" measure costs and environmental impact
57:20 "FieldTurf has many, many competitors" [Note: Yet not one has been allowed to bid on the installation of artificial turf on Montgomery County or MCPS fields.]

1:02:00  MCPS offers to work with County agencies to assess water quality issues
1:04:00 Leventhal "what is next decision point"
1:07:00 Leventhal "is it feasible to construct some sort of comparison...of water quality"
1:14:00 Leventhal "school system can provide very basic information on fertilizer, maintenance, cost..." - "not really seeing that"
1:17:00 Berliner "in addition to Mr. Leventhal's request which I believe there is agreement on..." - "collaborative process" - "...inconclusive nature as to the water quality issues" - "...you said you could monitor this piece" - "what costs associated with that" - "can we use Blair for this purpose"

1:20:00  Berliner "When you come back at the end of this calendar year [2010] with your life cycle cost comparison of grass versus turf that we also have this information..." - runoff from grass versus artificial turf - use Blair field for testing
1:27:00 Berliner on needing a report "holding up a document" - water quality is an important piece
1:43:00 Berliner "We will come back at the end of the year and you will advise us as to the results with respect to that."

Link to Audio



UPDATE:  Final Report at this link.

Artificial Turf: Heat Islands

Hot enough for you? Well, get ready for summer, because as our natural turf playing fields are replaced with artificial turf, the temperatures will be rising. Why?

Because artificial turf fields are well known for their great ability to trap heat, unlike natural sod, which actually cools our planet; and our neighborhoods. Artificial turf creates ‘heat islands’ with temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. But don’t take my word for it; here’s what Dr. Stuart Gaffin, a professor at Columbia University has found out in his studies. Gaffin, an Associate Research Scientist at that university’s Center for Climate Systems Research, initially began his studies researching how trees and parks cool the city. In his research he noticed an odd phenomenon; heat islands, which he initially assumed were caused by large buildings. He looked further, and lo and behold, the ‘heat islands’ were caused by artificial turf.

NASA Satellite Photo, August 14, 2002, New York City,
shows heat islands, the red squares at left. What caused
them? The photo on the right shows the lower left to be
a building and rooftop. And to the right? You guessed it,
an artificial turf playing field.


Thanks to MCPS, the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education and your County Council members, ALL the natural sod playing fields in our high schools will be replaced with artificial turf.

So crank up the A/C folks, it’s going to be a long, hot summer. Tomorrow…chemicals in artificial turf...but they're safe, right?