In May the Union County Board of Education discussed the use of turf grass on sports fields, particularly the softball and baseball fields at the new middle school. The original plan for the new middle school called for sod on both the softball and the baseball field. However at a meeting earlier this year, Dr. Jimmy Carter asked Director Greg Clay to research the cost of artificial turf grass in relation to the cost of sod. Director Clay found that the sod was approximately $500K and the artificial turf was three times the cost at nearly $1.5M for all of both fields or nearly $1M for the infield. However, the maintenance for turf was considerably cheaper over around ten years or the life of artificial turf. So on May 7, 2026, the BOE entertained three motions and finally voted to use artificial turf on the infield of both fields at a cost of nearly $1M.

But the middle school coaches of softball and baseball were unaware of the change until they got the news after the meeting. The softball coach sent board members an email and asked that the softball field remain sod and gave several reasons for her opinion including untrained volunteers who maintain the field, the lack of equipment to maintain the field, possible injuries due to the slick surface, the slowing down of ground balls, and the fact that softball fields at the local to the state levels were sod, not turf. However, the baseball coach preferred artificial turf because baseball is trending toward turf at all levels. The problem for the BOE is that Title IX requires equal facilities.

So Chairman Terry Washam called a special meeting on May 14, 2026, to revisit the decision for turf. The meeting was mostly cordial except for the middle school principal who continued to comment without the chair's acknowledgement. Apparently the principal felt that neither coach should determine the outcome and he questioned why the BOE was meeting. Several board members asked very pertinent questions: What is the timeline for when most baseball fields will be turf (5 to 6 years according to the coach) and Under Title IX, does equal mean money spent or facilities built (no one knew the answer and the attorney was not present)?. So the BOE voted to return to sod mostly due to the cost since the school system is already absorbing a $4.7M cost over run on the school.

In the regular meeting on May 7, the Board took several actions. The Board voted to extend Mr. Clay's contract for one more year and to pay his insurance coverage as had been done with other directors. The FY27 budget was passed on first reading. The Consolidated Plan for Federal programs was approved. Board policy updates were approved on the first reading. Coaching supplements for the summer for the middle school coaches were approved at a total cost of $28,000. The BOE rejected a request for a contribution of $8500 to the Public Library Summer Reading Program.

The next meeting will be on June 11 with the workshop at 6:00 and the meeting to follow.