Dear City Council:

I was astonished to hear that the remodel of Encinal School includes a
proposition to replace our existing playing fields with artificial turf. I
was equally floored to hear that the baseball diamonds will be obliterated.
Although its proponents mean well, I believe this to be a misquided effort.

Did you know:

Artificial turf raises greenhouse emissions. Although there are some
environmental reasons to go with artificial turf (less water, no
fertilizer), the overwhelming impact of artificial turf is more CO2, less
oxygen. Read: global warming. You'd have to plant more than 1,000 trees to
offset the difference between an artificial turf soccer field and a lawn of
the same size (grass lawn efficiently absorbs CO2 and produces oxygen).
New York is actively turning away from artificial turf, and Atherton is
launching a "go green" program. I am surprised that we would consider a
proposal that seems so out of step with the times.

Kids hate playing on artificial fields. Ask your child. These fields are
much hotter than lawn and can burn bare skin on a hot day. And the abrasions
when you fall are worse than from soil. There is no arguing that artificial
turf can be played on 24/7. No rainouts. But a good drainage system under
a grass field can mitigate the delay in playing after a rainstorm. And the
city usage on that artificial turf field after school is likely to be by
non-Encinal kids and possibly not even Encinal-aged kids. The artificial
fields under consideration at Encinal will be U14 and U19 soccer fields,
designed for older kids. There are artificial turf fields at MA highschool
for older kids already.

Soccer wins but Baseball loses. The Menlo-Atherton Little League relies on
the Encinal baseball fields for the entire pitching machine division, which
is populated by Encinal-aged kids. In my experience, this extra fun reason
for our kids to be on campus provided positive reinforcement for going to
the school, and helped them to feel more like part of the school. My kids
have now progressed beyond pitching machine to AAA and majors level Little
League, and are getting wonderful lessons in responsibility, being a team
player, and sportsmanship from their participation. The issue of the
baseball fields has come up so suddenly that the MA Little League was taken
completely by surprise. The fate of Menlo-Atherton's Little League pitching
machine division (and therefore the advancement to upper divisions and
high-school teams) is important to the community. I believe there has been
some specious information to the effect that only artificial turf will allow
us to keep a baseball field. If so, I'd like to hear the logic, which I
believe to be predicated on the desire for a U19 field. We do not need a U19
field at Encinal, which serves children 11 years old and under. Portable
backstops do not make a baseball field. Baseball base-runners need dirt
basepaths. Also, groundballs go much faster on artificial turf, creating a
safety problem for the children who play at this level. And finally, I see
no provisions to offer priority to Little League during its short spring
season. Let's aim for a win-win for all sports.

No more bluebird program. Western bluebirds, once populous in this area,
depend upon open fields and nearby trees for their habitat. Remarkably,
the current grassy sportsfields and surrounding trees suit this finicky
bird. (Talk about mixed-use fields!) We have had bluebird houses at Encinal
for several years, and are part of a bluebird repopulation trail. We have
recently registered three of our birdhouses in the national registry for the
repopulation of western bluebirds. Together with the Encinal students, we
do field studies and report our findings to the registry. We use this
program to teach the kids about habitats, ecosystems, adaptation, and
decomposition-all State Standards for the 3rd through 5th grades. The loss
of grass fields will put an end to this distinguished program.

Uncommon sense: Scientific studies have shown that city kids have more
allergies than farm kids. Exposure to the natural environment is a key part
of the proper development of our immune response.

Common sense: wouldn't we rather have our kids near soil and lawns than
surrounded by asphalt and rubber? The new plan is all asphalt and rubber
except for an ornamental patch outside the district office. I could have
stayed in the city for that kind of schoolyard.

As you know, artificial turf costs a LOT more. Over the 8 year warranty of
an artificial turf field, the upfront cost and lower maintainance still adds
up to > $500,000 more than the upkeep of a grass field over the same period.
No one has discussed the cost of disposing of this much rubber after a
decade, but that is also sure to be costly. I can only suppose that the
City of Menlo Park is motivated to foot the bill so that they can rent out
the field, and thereby feel that they've solved the field shortage problem
in Menlo Park. The current plan, while surely pleasing to AYSO, does not
meet the needs of the school community, the nearly 500 baseball families in
the community, or Menlo Park taxpayers.

Let's solve the Menlo Park field problem in some more sensible way, and not
hold the Encinal kids ransom for the city's problems. Although it is
extremely tempting to use city funds for portions of the upcoming remodel, I
feel that the cost of this money is too high.

Respectfully and Sincerely,

Amy Boggs

p.s. I freely admit to the following "conflicts of interest"!!!

  Encinal Mom

  Baseball Mom

  Encinal Garden Co-chair (umbrella for the bluebird program)

  Data-driven Scientist

  Environmentalist

  Menlo Park Taxpayer

Amy F. Boggs, Ph.D.

Mobile: 650-245-2725

Home phone: 650-322-3602

Fax: 650-321-5610

 
Received on Sun Apr 1 13:41:31 2007