To: school_board@fuhsd.org
Re: Agenda Item 14 - Reject amendment #1; Install natural grass fields instead of artificial turf
February 26, 2024
Dear FUHSD President Moe, Vice President Nakano-Matsumoto, and Trustees:
Our 12 grassroots organizations—Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, Sierra Club-Loma Prieta Chapter, Community for Natural Play Surfaces, 350 Silicon Valley, Climate Action California, Elders Climate Action, A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Non-Toxic Schools, Moms Advocating Sustainability, Non-Toxic Communities, and YardSmartMarin —collectively represent thousands of local residents, including many in Fremont Union High School District. We and the 90 residents listed below are united by a common commitment to ensure a healthy environment today and a livable climate tomorrow for all children. As parents, youth, grandparents, and allies, we ask you to protect students from the health and safety harms of artificial turf and to protect our shared environment from the toxins it releases into the air and water.
Specifically, we urge you to reject Amendment #1 to the Lease-Leaseback Agreement with Robert A. Bothman Construction for the District Wide Athletic Field Replacements Project. Instead of artificial turf, we ask you to install natural grass at all FUHSD athletic fields in order to protect students' health and safety as well as the natural environment we all depend on.
Artificial turf is a petroleum-based product that contains toxic chemicals and is linked to injury, heat illness, and burns. Artificial turf also releases greenhouse gasses, contaminates local streams, and increases the heat island effect. In addition, artificial turf cannot be recycled and ends up in landfills, breaking down into harmful microplastics, further degrading the environment.
Some may believe that artificial turf saves water. However, because artificial turf heats up in sunlight (when the air temperature is 78°F, artificial turf can reach 150°F), water is needed to cool it down, often several times during a game or practice. Also, whereas natural grasses can be watered with “purple pipe” (recycled) water, artificial turf needs to be watered with potable (drinking) water because recycled water’s minerals and salts can degrade the turf.
Others believe that artificial turf saves money. However, over the entire life cycle, natural grass fields are less expensive than artificial ones, as this must-read letter from Santa Clara County Medical Association summarizes. It’s important to take into account installation, maintenance, replacement, and disposal costs, all of which make artificial turf more costly in the long run.
Please heed the warnings of the Santa Clara County Medical Association about how dangerous artificial turf is for students. Natural grass is a much healthier, more environmentally-friendly, and more cost-effective choice as it is non-toxic, helps manage stormwater, and helps stabilize the climate by removing carbon pollution from the atmosphere, so critical to our students’ futures.
In conclusion, artificial turf is harmful and has no place in our schools. Rather than relying on the claims of artificial turf salespeople, please listen to concerned students, parents, grandparents, health officials, and residents. We need you to prioritize kids' safety and health, air and water quality, and a stable climate: just say NO to toxic, expensive artificial turf and say YES to healthy, environmentally-friendly, climate-protective, and cost-effective natural grass instead.
Thank you,
Linda Hutchins-Knowles, Co-Founder
Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley
Rohan Pandit, Executive Director
Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action
Cheryl Weiden, Steering Committee Member
350 Silicon Valley
Andrea Wald, Co-Leader
Community for Natural Play Surfaces
Susan Hinton, Chair, Plastic Pollution Prevention Team
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Janet Cox, CEO
Climate Action California
Todd Weber, Co-Leader
Elders Climate Action (ECA) Northern California (NorCal) Chapter
Christina Hildebrand, President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
Christina Hildebrand, Executive Director
Non-Toxic Schools
Vanessa Armstrong, Co-chair
Moms Advocating Sustainability
Rika Gopinath, Chair
YardSmartMarin
Diana Carpinone
Non-Toxic Communities
Joined by the following 90 residents:
- Adam Russell
- Leanne McAuliffe
- Singgih Tan
- Jimmie Yonemoto
- Kara Mandujano
- Barbara Bennigson
- Margaret McNulty
- Elizabeth Guimarin
- Susan Butler-Graham
- Sue Chow
- Gini Bossenbroek
- Martina Keim
- Meghna Varma
- Carrie Levin
- David Pedersen
- Jeanne Entin
- Katherine Park
- Neha Tadikamalla
- Mani Bekele
- Prachi Marfatia
- Rebecca Gallinger
- Hoai-An Truong
- Sven Thesen
- Marnie Singer
- Linda Reis
- Stacy Braslau-Schneck
- Tina Baumgartner
- Daphne Zhu
- Robert Whitehair
- Seema Lindskog
- Mike Wittig
- Katherine Nolan
- Sangyani Sinha
- Marilynn Smith
- Edwin and Jean Aiken
- Christina Hildebrand
- Casey Cameron
- Manuel Espinosa
- Vaishali Ravikumar
- Dianne Saichek
- Carole Gonsalves
- Hannah Razban
- Piper Primrose
- Jean Wolman
- alice nguyen
- Robert Showen
- Blaine Burgstrom
- Diana Lloyd
- Brian Haberly
- Xinpei Lu
- Hoi Poon
- Kathy Schaeffer
- B A Regard
- Kathleen Virmani
- Julie Martinez
- Terry Saucier
- Michael Kutilek
- Kay Ammon
- Todd Weber
- John Ennals
- L Friaz
- Tracey Van Hooser
- Clarabelle Wang
- Aarushi Kulshrestha
- Liz Steward
- Shivani Agarwala
- Mila Bekele
- Virginie Mitchem
- Lisa Charpontier
- Carol Weiss
- Kim Messmer
- Rika Gopinath
- Teresa Wang
- Rebecca Habermann
- Thomas Habermann
- Kanika Rawat
- Yale Ogburn
- Laura Young
- Kathy Ray
- Mary Brunkhorst
- Corinne Lipman
- Amit Srivastava
- Tara Martin-MIlius
- Rebecca Haggerty
- Farah Rajah
- Jennafer Thorpe
- Kris Karnos
- Brian Hutchins-Knowles
- Karina Knowles
- Dashiell Leeds