Shippensburg Area school board mulls artificial turf fields

Shippensburg Area Senior High School athletes could be playing on artificial turf fields in the near future if the school board approves proposed changes to the school's land development plan.

[hfs]

Spend, spend, spend! The athletic fields of Memorial Park sit just yards from the high school! And why spend half a million dollars for artifical turf? Architects and "planners" live in a dream world and come up with all kinds of ridiculous ideas which in the end put more money, by percentage of cost, in their pockets! Think of all the needed classroom and instructional items which half a million dollars could provide students and teachers! I will say, if they decide on the artificial turf, they better install some very high secure fences! Get the priorities straight; instruction first, athletic second!

[Inez]

Do the geniuses on the school board realize the state of the economy and what's forecasted into 2009 and beyond? The notion of artificial turf should be taken off the agenda and not be heard about again for years. No doubt there's the usual gang of "suspects" pushing for artificial turf. The usual group of middle-aged men who want to re-live their high school football days via their children are doubtless the driving force behind the push for Astroturf. What nonsense! Taxpayers must let the wishy-washy school board members know they must not succumb to the pressure of the "Football over everything" gang. Artificial turf is a "nice to have" not a "must have."

[Jeffrey Kunkleman]

I would hope that the Shippensburg School Board has enough common sense to dismiss any consideration of installing artificial turf on any of its fields, let alone practice fields! With the economy tanking and property taxes and fuel prices (buses) on the rise, the last thing we need is another unnecessary expenditure, and unless I am mistaken, artificial turf is make from “petroleum”. Anyway, what happened to being Green? Public school systems need to start focusing more on educating our children and less on entertaining them, besides playing in a little mud never hurt anyone.

[Matt]

Who on the Shippensburg School Board favors spending taxpayers' money for artificial turf? Who are the small number of proponents that brought the proposal to the school board? What's in it for them? Considering the economy is moving toward recession, it is insane to put an expenditure like this on the board's agenda. It is NOT a one-time cost. There is an annual maintenance cost to owning artifical turf. Maybe the salesman flakking the artificial turf conveniently left that out or low-keyed to out year maintenance cost.

[Anon 33]

Matt wrote:

Who on the Shippensburg School Board favors spending taxpayers' money for artificial turf? Who are the small number of proponents that brought the proposal to the school board? What's in it for them? Considering the economy is moving toward recession, it is insane to put an expenditure like this on the board's agenda. It is NOT a one-time cost. There is an annual maintenance cost to owning artifical turf. Maybe the salesman flakking the artificial turf conveniently left that out or low-keyed to out year maintenance cost.

Maybe the guy who thinks that you could save energy because you wouldn't have to cut the grass! How bout canceling all the night games and playing only in the day time to save money? JV games in the afternoon and high school football in the morning on Saturday.

[Gladys]

Anon 33, you've hit on a make-sense conservation idea. Stop using the electricity used for "Friday Night Lights" and go back to what schools did before they invested in flood lights for their shrines to their football teams. Cutting back on power consumption is needed and should become policy in the Shippensburg School District. Of course, some of the parents will howl. Why should a small number of zealots override the common sense of conserving?