MCPS Halts Funding for Turf Fields

by Matthew Post ‘18

In early November, Superintendent Smith released his recommended Capital Improvements Plan for MCPS in 2018. Notably excluded from the 317-page budget were the words “turf field.”

This snub may come as a surprise to those who followed the early deliberations on the county’s Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) process in 2015. Then Board of Education President Patricia O’Neill pushed for $11 million of turf field funding, citing a need for “turf-field equity.” “While the Whitmans and Churchills can raise money to maintain their fields,” noted O’Neill in a November 2015 Board meeting, “the Kennedys, the Einsteins and the Springbrooks deserve a field that is safe to play on.” In addition to the $11 million, schools were expected to fundraise and form private partnerships to subsidize turf field creation.

The proposal met swift opposition from community leaders. “As long as we face huge needs on maintenance, to me, we shouldn’t be spending millions on unnecessary luxuries like artificial turf fields” testified County Councilmember Tom Hucker, who suggested the funds be used to repair air conditioning and heating units instead.

Some parents expressed concern regarding the type of turf fields that were to be built, which the CIP did not originally specify. Most synthetic turf fields are made from pulverized tires, resulting in a firm yet bouncy surface. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that tires often contain lead, mercury, and arsenic. Additionally, such rubber fields are known to get intolerably hot, up to 180 degrees in the summer, according to a University of Nevada study.

As the County Council mulled over the budget item, the Maryland State Legislature heard testimony on HB-883: a bill requiring warning signs to be placed on all turf fields in the state. The proposed signs urged athletes to immediately shower after contact with the fields and refrain from drinking water while on the playing surface, citing concerns about accidental crumb rubber ingestion. When a representative from FieldTurf Inc. was asked if turf fields contained lead, he responded, “there’s lead in a lot of things in this world.”

As the budget process continued, the Board of Education came out in favor or organic turf fields as opposed to the those made from tires.

Ultimately, the County Council struck the fields from the CIP. “We don’t have a lot of capacity in our capital improvements program,” explained Education Committee Chair Craig Rice in a March 2016 committee meeting. “Unfortunately, I don’t think this is going to be a priority.”

Several schools, such as Walt Whitman and Albert Einstein, are getting turf fields through private partnerships with Montgomery Soccer Inc. (MSI) and no financial assistance from the county. Yet, with no mention of funding in the budget this year, the future of turf fields at the remaining turf-less 16 high schools in Montgomery County appears bleak.