To the editor:

From what I understand, the school board put together a Long Range Planning Com-mittee 18 months ago and they came up with the recommendation of replacing the grass fields at both Mehlville and Oak-ville senior high school with synthetic turf.

What’s great about this proposal is that it does not require any additional tax revenue; it simply identifies the amount of money the district spends on a yearly basis to maintain those fields — along with the cost to transports teams off premises for practices, and redirects that money toward a long-term loan/lease to pay for the new turf fields.

Currently at Oakville, they have only about 40 events per year on the natural grass. If turf is added, the usage could go from 300 to 400 events per year. This will benefit so many of our students, and would also generate revenue. What a great idea.

Finally, using our tax dollars wisely will put the sports program on a path to help itself. Whether you are a supporter of the sports programs in the school district or not, we all have a stake in it because of the taxes that we pay each and every year. This plan not only makes sense, it also brings a value to the community and makes the high schools more of a focal point of activity.

As most of us are aware at Oakville, the athletic field is horrible. But this is not just an athletic thing. Football and soccer players are prone to injuries because of its condition; physical education classes rarely if ever use the field; the band must practice on the asphalt so as not to damage the field; rain brings nothing but mud, etc. It is a proven fact that the athletic fields are the absolute worst of any school in the area.

Make your voices heard and call the school board and the administration to encourage them to vote for this plan now and stop throwing our tax money away on fields that have been an embarrassment to the district for 30-plus years.

Brian Deters

Oakville