San Diego Unified Considers Artificial Turf Subsidies for Nine High Schools
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Helen Gao
March 16, 2005
Scripps Ranch and eight other San Diego high schools would be in line to get subsidies for artificial turf on their playing fields, under a proposal going before the Board of Education tomorrow.
Six high schools in the San Diego Unified School District – Hoover, La Jolla, Mira Mesa, Patrick Henry, Point Loma and San Diego – already have artificial turf that was paid for, in part, with district subsidies.
District officials are proposing to continue the subsidies – totaling $3.6 million for nine more schools – if parents and schools raise matching funds.
Each school would receive $400,000. The cost of a synthetic turf is about $700,000, or about $1 million if a track is included.
Scripps Ranch residents are raising money for an artificial surface at their high school field, and the school is hoping for district help.
Trustees are scheduled to vote on the policy at 4 p.m. at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St., in University Heights.
Artificial surfaces can save money because they are easier than grass to maintain. Natural turf requires monthly maintenance and annual renovations that can cost about $130,000 a year.
Officials also consider artificial turf superior to grass. Natural turf can become patchy and uneven over time, and rain can turn it into mud puddles.
Artificial turfs are made of synthetic fibers. They have soft, even surfaces tufted with rubber, sand or both. Some players say fewer injuries are suffered on synthetic turfs.
If the board approves the subsidy plan, projects would still have to be individually approved, and subsidies would not be available until a school has raised the matching funds.
Trustees tomorrow also will be asked to set policies to comply with Proposition 39, a voter-approved state law that gives charter schools the right to apply for use of district campuses.
About a dozen charter schools have submitted applications to lease campuses from the district. Some want to share campuses with existing schools, while others want money to offset the cost of leasing private buildings.
