District Administration began discussing the possibility of installing an artificial turf field after meeting with FHHS parents explaining how the District planned to continue to provide students with physical education and extra-curricular activities during the three and a half year construction period. The construction, which is part of the $78.5 million bond issue approved by voters last fall, has rendered practice fields inaccessible. The plan involved using operating funds for the cost of transporting students and equipment to other sites, for additional maintenance for the fields at these other sites, as well as additional athletic trainer services. Parents expressed concern about their children’s safety because of the increased number of students driving or being transported to other sites, as well as about limiting physical education to only indoor activities.
During the May 21, 2009 Budget Workshop, District Administration presented the Board of Education with parent concerns and information about artificial turf. The Board discussed the pros and cons before directing Administration to do more research and issue a request for proposals. The District received three responses to the request for proposal.
The Board of Education voted 4-3 at the meeting on June 25, 2009 to approve the installation of artificial turf at FHHS. Board members Mike Sommer, Mike Hoehn, Terry Black, and Stephen Johnson voted in favor of the project, while Marty Hodits, Mark Lafata, and Sandy Sanders voted against it. The Board selected ATG Sports to install the turf field as part of the FHHS construction project.
Since the completion of the turf field installation in September, FHHS and the District have experienced the benefits of the field by:
· Having outdoor physical education classes for approximately 360 FHHS students daily
· Accommodating practice and games for Francis Howell Central (FHC) and Francis Howell North (FHN) high schools for both football and boys soccer due to their washed out home fields
· Accommodating feeder football programs from FHHS and FHC for contests due to washed out fields at Hollenbeck
· Accommodating several soccer contests that would have been rescheduled or cancelled due to field conditions based on October rainfall
· Greatly reducing the amount of travel time to off-site practices for football and soccer
· Hosting the annual band festival on a day when other band festivals were cancelled due to field conditions caused by October rainfall
· Greatly reducing costs associated with off-site practice venues including areas of transportation, field care costs, athletic trainer costs, and facility and equipment rental.
Additionally, the turf field has benefited all FHHS students by providing them with the necessary space for physical education and extra-curricular activities, as well as keeping students safer by eliminating unnecessary travel and relocation of activities during the construction period.
The $646,439 payment for the turf field will go before the Board for approval at the November 19, 2009 meeting. The turf field is being funded through proceeds of the November 2008 bond issue, on which we will incur interest. There is capacity to cover the cost of the turf field within the approved budget for Francis Howell High School, due to bids for construction packages 1-4 coming in lower than projected and anticipated savings on packages 5-9. The savings the District has seen in construction costs will also make it possible to pay for the furniture and fixtures for FHHS that were not originally part of the bond project. Use of bond proceeds for the turf field and furniture and fixtures will not jeopardize planned projects at Daniel Boone Elementary School or Francis Howell North High School. Bond funds may not be used for operating expenses such as salaries and benefits, transportation costs, utilities, textbooks or other supplies.
The turf field has been utilized more often by student groups and athletics throughout the District as artificial turf is more durable than a grass field. It is used daily by physical education classes and repeatedly used before and after school by football, soccer, track, band, cheerleading, dance, and color guard.
Click here for a link to frequently asked questions regarding the turf field at FHHS. If you have additional questions, please send them to communications@fhsdschools.org.
The above photo is from the FHHS Marching Band Invitational taken by Valerie Perkins.