Joplin R-8 Board of Education will discuss a proposal recommended by administration to spend $754,266 to replace the turf on the Joplin High School football practice field and resurface the track when it meets 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Memorial Administration Building.
Including the alternates that administrators are recommending the cost would be $874,780.
If the board approves the bid and the alternate, it will serve the well, the administrators said in their proposal, which is included in the board packet.
This combination would give the district a playing surface nearly identical to Junge Field, which has held up well. Furthermore, the addition of the alternates will ensure the longevity, playability, and safety of the field for years to come.
The proposal notes that it has been 10 years since the new high school opened and the turf and track were installed.
The surface has served the district well for ten years, not only for games and practices but for a wide variety of other events, including physical education classes and band activities.Over this time, the football field has experienced normal issues due to fiber degradation, such as loss of infill and seam damage. The artificial turf GMAX tested within the safe range in November of 2023, however, continual degradation of the fiber coupled with loss of infill material will continue to raise the GMAX number to an unacceptable level within the next couple of years.
The track was constructed at the same time as the football field in 2014 and is utilized daily (weather permitting) by physical education classes as well as the JHS cross country and track teams. The surface is showing normal signs of wear. lt is recommended that these polyurethane surfaces are resprayed every 8-10 years to prevent damage to the subsurface caused by water intrusion.
R-8 officials asked for a proposal from Mid-America Sports Construction for the project.
Listed as submitting the proposal to the board are Matt Hiatt, Athletic Director, Kyle Wolf, Middle School Athletic Director, Curtis Jasper, Head Football Coach, Nick Reid, Head Track Coach, Dave Pettit, Director of Facilities, Matt Harding, Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Dr. Kerry Sachetta, Superintendent.
14 comments:
What a waste of money, they are kids, spend money on something that will benefit them in the future
I Love Sports and Played from Grade School to High School Sports - and feel that Sports can Teach and Benefits Children in Team Building / Health / Exercise / Creative Capabilities, but I think our Country is at an Obsessive Level when it comes to Sports from Kindergarten to Professional.
We Spend more Money and Time - Invested in Sports than we should. That much money - $900,000 for turf seems too expensive.
I am wandering are we making similar Investments into our: Math and Science Programs, Arts and Music Programs and other Technology and Vo-Tech Programs?
The number of parents who think their high school athlete will play pro sports is absurdly high!!!
The Sad Truth is Very Few Student Athletes Ever Play Professional Sports - Football Players: 1,093,234 high school players, about 71,060 or 6.5 percent play in college, about 1,136 or 1.6 percent of college players are eligible to be drafted by an NFL team - and remember then out of that there are 254 Participants at the NFL Draft.
So, what do all of these Ex-Student Athlete do when they do not become a Professional - they have to Fall Back on to their Education / Training - Options.
Again, this is why it is important that Playing Sports is Great, but the Reality is that they need to have their PLAN-B - ready to go.
The Sad Truth our Educational System Ranks 13th in the World - Read that Again - 13th in the World - -
So will that $900,000 Turf Benefit the Students Today - Yes, but not the Majority - and should we be Focusing on giving our Kids a Better Education / Training to Prepare them for a Better Life - YES... Will We - NO...
Tax and spend----Joplin school district.
Joplin City Council---same.
With lots more property taxes on the way.
School district levy increase coming soon, I
can feel it in my bones.
Takes a lot of courage to stand up against this
mindset. We need more taxpayers to run for the
City Council and the School board and then not get
co-opted once elected.
“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
Well sedd
Always enjoy reading opinions from non-sports folks who don’t have a full understanding of investing in facilities and the return on investment.
Failure to maintain these facilities will cost more down the road vs. being proactive and taking care of it now and keeping the replacement on schedule.
What alot of Non-Sports Folks - Do Understand is that the Schools and Sports Fanatic Parents are using our Tax Dollars to promote these Sports Programs - - $900,000 for a Practice Field of Astro Turf - - Come ON!!! I played Sports on a Real Grass Field - Football, Baseball, and Track - - Schools have to understand that these Sports Programs are paid for by Tax Dollars - and they have tried to turn their Sports Programs into Operations that mimic Professional Teams -
Missouri is Ranked 21st in Percentage Participation of high school students who participate in sports - this accounts for a 40% Participation Rate or 45.6% for Boys and 34.1% for Girls.
While Sports offer several Positive things for Students - We are still dealing with 60% of the Other Students that are Not Participating in Sports - - What are we Offering them???
Some Parents are now skipping there Kids Participation in High School Sports and Opting them in Traveling or Regional Teams that are directly supported and paid for by those Parents - - Not the Schools or Tax Payers.
If you are a Tax Paying Individual - do we raise Taxes to Support all the Sports Programs or do we Fund - Math and Science Programs, Arts and Music Programs and other Technology and Vo-Tech Programs - Something that will help all the Students Reap Benefits - After High School and College - when the Real World - is Facing these Kids Head On?
5:22pm Same could be said for the buildings as well. Unfortunately they don’t keep up with maintenance or repairs of them.
The more the non-sports folks speak, the more they are making me realize how correct they are. Let’s eliminate all athletic programs, all physical education classes and eliminate all funding for facilities, coaches and travel budgets. Invest all of it academics. More science, math, social sciences, life skills, arts, music and vocational education. History has shown the district gets a bigger return on investment from investing in education vs. athletics. Successful alumni who go on to succeed in the business world are more likely to donate funds back to the district to support academics vs. athletics. Makes the most sense, go for it. Defund athletics and make academia the priority.
My main point is that we can support both Academics and Athletics - but not get carried away.
Spending $900,000 on Astro Turf Replacement for a Practice Field is Ridiculous - - I said Replacement we have already bought this one time - -
Spending $100,000 on the wrong-color Joplin High School gymnasium seats and bleachers that were ordered wrong by the Design Committee - Yet No One Took Responsibility for that Error - Again, Wasting Time and Money - - Which these School Officials and Administrator - just think that have an Endless Barrell of Tax Payers Money to Cover Up their many Mistakes. While Teachers need school supplies throughout the district.
This is the Stupidity of it all - - We should be able to Offer Both Academics and Athletics, but we must be Responsible and Reasonable - - and realize that Academics will Pay Bigger Dividends in the Future for the Majority of the Students -
The Question comes up do we need less Administrators on the School's Payroll and more Faculty and Teachers to help provide a better education system - -
Schools continue to add Administration Layer after Layer of Personnel - If you are an Administrator - then need an Assistant or a Secretary - - again Layer after Layer. We have been adding Layer after Layer to our Schools for Years - - We need to look at these Positions and Justify why Schools have so many Administrators, Assistant Administrators - - and do we Truly need them and make them Accountable or are we just adding Layers because the People above them are not doing their Jobs.
In the Business World if an Administrator is becoming a Liability - Not doing their Job or becoming a Bottle-Neck in the World of Progress they are Replaced or Removed and Better Procedures and Processes are put into Place - - Including Retraining and giving there Tasks to a other Employees.
In the School Systems - - we seem to cover up and CYA - So let's look do they need the Number of Administrator they have or could their Tasks be divided up among the many Administrators - Saving the Schools alot of Money...
7:32 anonymous has some excellent points.
Tax and spend school boards (and city councils) need
oversight from taxpayers all the time.
732. The cut and paste, pious narcissist strikes again! Does this individual have anything else to do? Evidently, living in mama's basement leaves one with time in excess,
It’s a damn practice field, WTF
Spend spend spend, these people are idiots
I wonder how many non-athletes this serves. I bet more than most of you realize....PE classes...from what Iv seen the student body could use a little more PE and less phone usage by the size of them. If you look at the parents the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
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