It's one thing to implement programs to help our kids learn the three “R's” or to improve our disastrous drop-out rates. But it is quite another to ask the local taxpayers for additional taxes to fund the Auburn school district's grandiose plan of refurbishing Holland Stadium or the high school with artificial turf.
We realize that being on this non-paid school board is #(for most members#) a noble cause. However, I believe that many board members, once elected, leave their common sense at the door. It must be the phosphorus, etc., in the Owasco Lake water, right?
Yes, “replacing windows at the middle and high schools with double-pane glass and a leaking roof at the high school” does seem to make sense. But artificial turf?
In 1999, they spent $3.9 million to “expand our elementary schools to allow for full-time kindergarten classes” #- to help some people with their baby-sitting expenses (?) - even though our overall enrollments were decreasing. Wonderful.
Plus they spent $25.7 million for reconstruction of “all the school buildings.” And they're still at it!
The “current” estimated cost of this artificial turf - field of dreams #- is $900,000, with state aid at 85 percent. This leaves us “local yokels” to pay “only” $135,000. Hey, don't worry about it, what's another increase in our taxes, right? And this turf “has to be replaced every 10 to 15 years at a cost of $250,000,” with no state guarantee of the same aid or any aid.
They haven't hit their borrowing limits, so what's the problem?
Last Sunday, the FIFA World Cup final match was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. (A head butt? The French have been known to drink a lot of wine, you know. Congratulations, Italy!).
Recently, this huge facility had a $310 million facelift. And guess what? They opted to use natural grass and not artificial turf. I do believe that they could have afforded AstroTurf but choose not to for various reasons; chief among them was a question of safety.
Players describe the impact as similar to falling on concrete (Vince Lombardi called AstroTurf “fuzzy cement”). Players' cleats can get caught in the turf, which does not give the way grass and dirt does, causing the injury known as ‘turf toe', and much worse.
When was the last time your child fell down on natural grass and was seriously injured? And what was the result when they fell down on the sidewalk? Ouch!
By the way, who is it that's advertising AstroTurf as safer then natural grass, anyway? It wouldn't be the artificial turf industry, would it? Nah.
And, to answer school board president Michael Stearns' challenge of “We're truly looking for open, honest feedback from the community,” I have a pregnant suggestion: You can buy a lot of grass seed for a heck of lot less than $900,000 - now and in the future.
It's your money.
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
Yes, “replacing windows at the middle and high schools with double-pane glass and a leaking roof at the high school” does seem to make sense. But artificial turf?
In 1999, they spent $3.9 million to “expand our elementary schools to allow for full-time kindergarten classes” #- to help some people with their baby-sitting expenses (?) - even though our overall enrollments were decreasing. Wonderful.
Plus they spent $25.7 million for reconstruction of “all the school buildings.” And they're still at it!
The “current” estimated cost of this artificial turf - field of dreams #- is $900,000, with state aid at 85 percent. This leaves us “local yokels” to pay “only” $135,000. Hey, don't worry about it, what's another increase in our taxes, right? And this turf “has to be replaced every 10 to 15 years at a cost of $250,000,” with no state guarantee of the same aid or any aid.
They haven't hit their borrowing limits, so what's the problem?
Last Sunday, the FIFA World Cup final match was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. (A head butt? The French have been known to drink a lot of wine, you know. Congratulations, Italy!).
Recently, this huge facility had a $310 million facelift. And guess what? They opted to use natural grass and not artificial turf. I do believe that they could have afforded AstroTurf but choose not to for various reasons; chief among them was a question of safety.
Players describe the impact as similar to falling on concrete (Vince Lombardi called AstroTurf “fuzzy cement”). Players' cleats can get caught in the turf, which does not give the way grass and dirt does, causing the injury known as ‘turf toe', and much worse.
When was the last time your child fell down on natural grass and was seriously injured? And what was the result when they fell down on the sidewalk? Ouch!
By the way, who is it that's advertising AstroTurf as safer then natural grass, anyway? It wouldn't be the artificial turf industry, would it? Nah.
And, to answer school board president Michael Stearns' challenge of “We're truly looking for open, honest feedback from the community,” I have a pregnant suggestion: You can buy a lot of grass seed for a heck of lot less than $900,000 - now and in the future.
It's your money.
Balyszak's column appears Mondays in The Citizen and he can be reached at bfsfinancial@adelphia.net
The Citizens' Say
There are 1 comment(s)
Auburn native wrote on Jul 17, 2006 3:30 PM: