QUESTION FAKE GRASS in LGUSD.

LGUSD has a "Green School Operations" Policy ...   "The Governing Board believes that all citizens have a responsibility to be stewards of the environment and desires to integrate environmental accountability into all district operations. The Superintendent or designee shall promote green school practices that  conserve natural resources, reduce the impact of district operations on the environment, and protect the health of students, staff, and community." The policy explicitly calls out that it applies to decisions about "landscaping and grounds". The district has cited as justification for the proposal to install plastic fields that the act, technically, would not be illegal.  Likewise installing plastic fields would, technically, not be a formal violation of LGUSD's loosely-worded Green School Operations policy.   However, installing plastic fields would certainly constitute failing to uphold the spirit of this policy. Let's aim higher than sat...

Students at LGUSD's Lexington Elementary  practice, as explained at ibo.org , being knowledgeable,  open-minded, reflective, critical thinkers. As educators and parents, we know that "everybody else is doing it" is not a valid justification for anything. And, just like we all tell our kids:   In actuality , it is NOT true that "everybody else is doing it"... How does that lesson apply here? Schools and municipalities are NOT all following the masses, succumbing to sales pitches, and proceeding with artificial turf installations. Some are pausing to ask themselves if this is really a wise choice?  Especially in light of expert insights that were not yet available back when  other schools and municipalities chose to install them ?   For example, in 2005 when the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) installed one of its first artificial turf fields, it was not widely known how much lead was in some of the fields.  As another example, in...

To conserve water costs, should we rob kids of equitable access to nature?   Certainly given increasingly-dense urban housing in Los Gatos, not every child's family is afforded their own private land from which to benefit from daily exposure to nature.   As a community working together to share natural resources, is THE place to severely restrict water the shared field? A field that may serve as the only regular daily exposure to nature that hundreds of our kids in dense, urban developments get? No. This is wrong. This constitutes an equity issue. LGUSD Equity Action Team and the many other Los Gatos community members that value equity, it's time to be an upstander for those children with less privilege. A tweet from LGUSD's superintendent about the district's commitment to equity. Elementary school play fields and public parks are absolutely the outdoor green spaces that make sense to judiciously water. In fact, this could very well be part of the rationale San Jos...

The Story of Stuff  explains "Externalized Costs" in the video below. As apparent from the financials in the district presentation, artificial turf will cost the district at least a million dollars more than natural grass. While that's already a jaw-dropping amount of money, it does not even reflect the full true costs of artificial turf products. This often goes unacknowledged because true costs are not reflected on financial expense records. There are costs to artificial turf that neither the district nor the community will pay with cash from their pockets. These are called "externalized costs". These costs include the costs to environmental and public health and extend beyond LGUSD campuses. These costs are incurred and effect real people along the entire length of this product's lifecycle, from the toxic pollution that comes from harvesting of natural resources, through manufacture, through degradation over years of exposure to the elements and foot ...

"Turn off the tap by shutting down the plastic machine", advises The Story of Stuff . Plastic comes from fossil fuels.   For sustainability and climate resilience purposes, we've been teaching our kids that we've got to reduce our use of fossil fuels. We've been teaching our kids we've got to stop using plastic in situations where we have reasonable alternatives. And our kids care... Daves and Lexington Elementary kids campaigned to get rid of plastic packaging and straws both in the district and with local officials . The Fisher kids were grand prize winners of an Eco Grant from Grades of Green in part for persuading the school to stop selling single-use water bottles . Van Meter kids attended an assembly with a representative of West Valley Collection & Recycling to learn more about how our waste stream is handled.  And for Earth Day, the Van Meter Green Team reviewed with the students that  "5 R's is the new 3 R's" :  Refuse, Reduce, ...

The downsides of using artificial turf outweigh the upsides. Image from aprilsmith.org . Go here to review the downsides to using artificial turf on campus areas OTHER than the play fields. Question whether motives for installing artificial turf outweigh these compelling reasons to dismiss artificial turf, especially given that alternatives are within reach... WATER USE UNDERESTIMATED - Uses water for cooling, cleaning, maintenance.  Required to maintain warranty. MAINTENANCE UNDERESTIMATED - Needs continual cleaning of dried-on sweat, spit, blood, vomit, dog poop/pee , bird poop, food, gum. Sweeping/leaf blowing. Brushing to keep pile up. Repairs. Requires regular testing of surface and infill hardness for SAFETY.  Warranties have restrictions inconducive to elementary school multi-use fields (no lawn chairs, no staking of bounce houses or tents, discourage food and beverage, etc.) HEAT ISLAND - Heats campuses, kids can’t play on it on hot days, endangers surrounding tr...

The downsides of using artificial turf outweigh the upsides. Image from aprilsmith.org . Below is a pared down list of downsides to using artificial turf, focused on concerns most relevant to areas of campus beyond the fields.  This includes spaces designed to be used as "outdoor classrooms" where it's envisioned the community's 5-11 year old students will gather, eat, and play during class time, recess, and lunch, such as outdoor corridors and courtyards, including a courtyard used daily by kindergarteners.   To review the downsides to using artificial turf on the play fields, see our original flyer . Question whether motives for installing artificial turf outweigh these compelling reasons to dismiss artificial turf, especially given that alternatives are within reach... HEAT - Artificial turf, even with plant-based infill, gets HOT.  For example, on a sunny, 80 degree day, it might be 110 degrees on artificial turf with cork infill.  Last schoolyear, we had ...

LGUSD boasts about its environmental stewardship successes. The incongruence of using plastic grass after all the other progress being made in the district is glaring, embarrassing, and baffling. Daves Avenue Green Team kids , what do you think about (or do you even know about) the plans to cover portions of your campus with surfacing that is "green" only in color? Now's your chance to learn about eco issues in your immediate world and get active.