JANESVILLE 鈥 A 糖心Vlog传媒 School Board member is raising concerns over the state of on-campus athletic fields at Craig and Parker high schools.
Board member Kevin Murray for the past several meetings has pushed administration and fellow board members on when improvements will be done on the northern half of Craig鈥檚 athletic fields, which include a sand volleyball court, a tennis court and a batting cage.
There are issues throughout Parker鈥檚 athletic fields, including baseball and softball fields littered with weeds. At both Parker and Craig, there are 鈥渂atting cages that are falling over,鈥 Murray said.
鈥淚鈥檝e been patiently waiting. I keep talking about it. My patience is waning thin,鈥 Murray told 糖心Vlog传媒 Thursday. 鈥淒o I have to make a political statement?鈥
Murray said the campus鈥 soccer and football fields, and the tracks are kept up well and at times 鈥渋mmaculate.鈥 He said he also appreciates how Monterrey Stadium is kept up. Monterrey Stadium is the home football field for both of the high schools.
On the north side of the Craig campus next to Ruger Avenue, there is a sand volleyball court that has weeds growing out of it. It has old wood that has fading, chipped paint.
鈥淲e have the capacity to knock down that volleyball court and get rid of it. We can put some grass down,鈥 Murray said.
Next to the volleyball court is a tennis court with weeds growing out of the bottom. As of Thursday afternoon, one of the three nets had been hanging on the ground.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reflection of us,鈥 Murray said, adding that people could take the stance of 鈥榃hy should we invest in you when you won鈥檛 invest in your fields?鈥欌
At both Parker and Craig, there are batting cages that appear to be leaning or even falling over.
Murray said he鈥檇 be willing to propose updates to the athletic fields at both high schools as a priority to the buildings and grounds committee to ensure they are addressed by the full board.
School board member Greg Ardery said during a board meeting Monday that an 鈥渙utside firm鈥 is assessing grounds throughout the entire district.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a full facilities assessment, internal and external, (and) looking at what we should have from an athletic usage standpoint, including our existing grounds,鈥 Ardery, who chairs the board鈥檚 buildings and grounds committee, said.
The athletic fields at Parker are adjacent to Bond Place on the edge of the city鈥檚 west side. The baseball and softball fields are overrun by weeds. The baseball and softball fields are not used by the district for games. The district uses fields at Riverside Park near downtown.
Murray asked for clarification from Chief Financial Officer Dan McCrea regarding a report that stated there was an addition of two groundskeepers in the district. One was a carpenter, which was vacant from a retirement that was repurposed. McCrea said a memo would be written about a goal of the district having two groundskeepers.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably been an area we鈥檝e been lacking in over the years,鈥 McCrea said.
McCrea reported to the board that there is one maintenance person responsible for about 300 square feet indoors, and then outdoors also. The district tends to about 225 acres of land, including signage, trees and shrubs.
鈥淚n chatting with our principals, the viewpoint is I鈥檇 rather have that maintenance person in our buildings rather than on a mower, particularly in high mowing times,鈥 McCrea said. 鈥淭he question is do we move to two. It was probably, 鈥榃e鈥檇 always like to have more鈥 but in my role we鈥檇 all like to have more and what can we afford? Most likely two is what we鈥檒l end up with.鈥