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Why is your PTSA questioning the use of proceeds from the Alcohol Tax for Turf Fields at 2 HCPSS High Schools?
Why is your PTSA questioning the use of proceeds from the Alcohol Tax for Turf Fields at 2 HCPSS High Schools?
On Thursday, October 20th at 7 pm, at the Board of Education Building located on Route 108, the BOE will vote on using the alcohol tax proceeds for turf fields at 2 high schools. Anyone interested in the matter is encouraged to attend or to email the Board of Education at boe@hcpss.org.
Your Mt. Hebron PTSA first learned of the issue in an article in The Baltimore Sun. As a result, your PTSA wrote the following to the Board of Education:
The Mt. Hebron PTSA is seeking your response to its questions arising from comments made by a HCPSS employee in the October 5, 2011 The Baltimore Sun article regarding the allocation of proceeds from the alcohol tax. The article stated:
“The state Board of Public Works, made up of the governor, the comptroller and the state treasurer, approved $4 million in spending projects in Howard County, in part to replace grass football fields with artificial turf at Atholton and Hammond high schools.
Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, pressed Wayne Crosby, director of school facilities for the county, on whether upgrading the fields was the school system’s most pressing problem.
Crosby noted that the artificial fields would last 20 years and be tough enough to be used by surrounding communities as well as the schools’ teams.
Other Howard County projects approved Wednesday included an improved weight room at Wilde Lake High School, new cabinets in the art room at Wilde Lake Middle School, and lockers and a new stadium press box at Oakland Mills High School.”
As you know, the Mt Hebron PTSA subcommittee, Help Mt Hebron, has been meeting with Howard County school officials on a monthly basis for a several years cooperatively discussing the ongoing renovation of Mt Hebron High School. On numerous occasions committee members requested that the renovation’s excess funds be used for the installation of turf fields at Mt Hebron instead of being directed to other HCPSS capital improvement projects. Indeed, we regularly offered to be the pilot for any turf field program that HCPSS may consider.
While HCPSS school officials agreed that it would be more cost effective to install turf fields during the renovation rather than later, they were unable to support such a pilot. School officials stated repeatedly that no Howard County school would receive a turf field until funds were available to provide all high schools with such a field. They stated they would follow the precedent set when all football fields received stadium lights. It was an equity issue they stated. Help Mt. Hebron then and today certainly understood and supported such a policy.
However, with the statements made by HCPSS staff, the Mt Hebron PTSA requests a response to the following questions:
- Does HCPSS have funds to pay for turf fields for all Howard County high schools? If so, what is the start and finish date for all schools?
- If funds are not available for the remaining high schools, when did HCPSS change its policy on equity? Was there any public discussion of the change and the plan to accept the money?
- What was the rationale in choosing Atholton and Hammond High Schools? Did the Gilbert Studies that were conducted on all the high schools to determine need for a renovation identify these fields as the most needy or unsafe? Or was the decision influenced by politics as stated in The Baltimore Sun stated the following:
“Most of the money was earmarked in the legislation for Baltimore City and for Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, drawing criticism from Republican lawmakers who called the allocation unfair. They said the earmarking was used to get votes for the measure from those counties.”
Your response is greatly appreciated so we may address our communities many questions.
Sincerely,
Angela Ballard-Landers, Mt. Hebron PTSA President
Maryland PTA Reflections Art Program
Maryland PTA Reflections Art Program
The theme for the 2011-2012 Maryland PTA Reflections program is “Diversity Means…”
There are some changes to the 2011-2012 program, so please read all of the materials carefully! We NEVER want to disqualify a student’s entry because the chair didn’t follow the instructions – read carefully and contact MD PTA if you have ANY questions.
The complete 2011-2012 Reflections Local Chair Guide, including all the forms and rules can be found linked below:
Patapsco Middle School's PTA 