Supt. Justin Robertson
Officials said a new football/soccer field at the planned new Tyner High/Middle School is slated to be of artificial turf.
Supt. Justin Robertson said the property only includes room for a single field that will be used by both the high school and middle school football and boys and girls soccer teams at both levels. He said the only other practice area was a small section beside the main field.
He said there was the possibility of getting additional fields through an arrangement with the city on use of nearby fields. However, he said it would be 2-3 times the cost to fix up all the fields.
Instead, he said the artificial turf would allow for continued use of the single field for the various teams. Modern artificial turf allows rain water to soak through to underground to allow more continuous play.
County Commissioner Joe Graham questioned the $800,000 to $1 million cost of the artificial turf field at Tyner, calling it "ridiculous" to say that was being fiscally conservative.
He said, "It's nearly a million dollars, and that money would go a long way" in dealing with a number of school needs. Supt. Robertson put the cost at between $800,000 and $1 million.
Commissioner Graham said it will also "set a precedent at a public school." He said, "Why didn't Howard get artificial turf."
He said the commission had not been presented with any design plans for the new school or given a chance to look at possible cost reductions. He said he would recommend for the next budget that the "growth money" that normally goes to the schools would go instead toward the overage cost at the Tyner school.
Commissioner David Sharpe took umbrage at talk of a public school not getting artificial turf. He said public schools need to compete directly with private schools, saying many parents have a high burden of paying private tuition.
On the issue of the possibility of more injuries on artificial turf, Supt. Robertson said there had been a number of improvements in its design. He said, "We've come a long way from a layer of concrete and a piece of carpet on top."