After months of deliberations, a South Bay highschool district will proceed to put in artificial turf on its athletic fields quite than replacing it with natural grass.
With this decision, the district desires to be certain that outdoor spaces are accessible to students year-round, but some residents are dissatisfied that the toxic “forever chemicals” known to be present in lawns will proceed to be present.
The Fremont Union High School District Board of Directors voted this week to approve a $31.6 million contract to resurface the factitious turf fields at Fremont, Homestead, Lynbrook, Monta Vista and Cupertino high schools as a part of a district plan to enhance athletic facilities.. The district serves greater than 10,000 students in Cupertino, Sunnyvale and San Jose.
The district replaced 12 of its 15 grass fields with artificial turf between 2009 and 2013 and the opposite three in 2018 to conserve water and improve athletic facilities. Because the turf has a life expectancy of eight to 10 years, substitute was slated, prompting environmental enthusiasts and board members to debate the change.
Artificial turf is increasingly under scrutiny because it could actually contain dangerous microplastic particles and chemicals comparable to PFAS, often known as “forever chemicals.” The material seeps into the food chain, contaminates water supplies and negatively impacts children’s development, amongst other things, in response to the US Ministry of Health and Human Services. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom even signed a law last yr allowing cities and counties to ban artificial turf as a consequence of health concerns.
“Our world is in crisis and we need less plastic, not more,” said community member Andrea Wald at the college district meeting on Tuesday.
The board previously defended the usage of artificial turf, arguing that the fabric is inexpensive and easier to take care of than grass. The cost of replacing the 12 fields with grass was initially estimated at $23 million, while the associated fee of converting all 15 fields to natural grass could be roughly $35 to $45 million. The district also estimates that the fields with grass are usable for an estimated 5,040 hours per yr, in comparison with just 2,550 hours with natural grass.
During the meeting, trustee Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto said the board had to contemplate the scholars' playing time when making the choice. The courts are used almost day by day through the school yr for physical education classes, athletics, band practice and other school or community events. Grass courts can’t be utilized in inclement weather, and Nakano-Matsumoto said she has heard that girls' playing time in girls' sports is commonly shortened for this reason.
“Whether that's true or not, I think that's something we need to look at and we need to make sure that we make sure that happens,” she said.
But some residents, like Cortney Jansen, whose children will attend FUHSD high schools in the approaching years, expressed disappointment that the district didn’t conduct a comprehensive study on the health and environmental impacts of using artificial turf, which was requested when the board considered the change in February.
In 2023, the Santa Clara County Medical Association wrote to the Los Gatos-Saratoga Unified High School District concerning the health concerns of artificial turf, which was also considering replacing its turf with grass. The Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club also wrote to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors concerning the difficulty of dismantling and properly disposing of turf.
“In the last four and a half months,” Jansen said, “no one has asked for a direct comparison between new grass and new artificial turf technology.”
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