During last week’s Becker School board meeting, the board members got on the topic of reviewing the recent referendum. About a month ago, the referendum was voted down by 11 votes. The board is going to re-evaluate their proposal and present a new referendum to the voters.

During this discussion, one board member presented his opinion on why the referendum failed: The board had failed to properly educate the voters on what they needed and why.

What!? NO!

The board did NOT fail to educate the voters. In my opinion, the board did a PHENOMENAL job with their public outreach! They had a dedicated website which clearly explained everything they wanted, they had open house events, letters in the paper, flyers in the mail, the whole shebang. They got over 1,200 voters to come to a non-presidential election! That’s amazing! And NOT the reason the referendum was voted down. 

Of course, I can’t speak for all the voters, but I’d like to share why I opposed the referendum. Now, I did not vote, since I had just moved out of the area and therefore was not eligible, but as a reporter in the community and a long-time Becker resident, I did have my own opinion on the issue, and having spoken to some other residents, and seen Facebook posts of people who did vote, I know my opinion doesn’t differ significantly from others who opposed the referendum. 

I, and others, opposed the referendum because the board asked for astroturf to be installed on the practice football field. Even though, in their original survey, they found little support for adding artificial turf to the practice football field. Quite possibly because they already have an excellent varsity field with astroturf already on it! The board argued that the maintenance fees would be lower in the long run for artificial turf. They said that all the sports teams, not just football, would have a chance to use the field. They said that it would help with Becker’s lack of greenspace for sports.

And yes, these points were all well-communicated to the public. But there are a few reasons why some of us opposed the idea, regardless.

Replacing an existing greenspace with an artificial greenspace doesn’t do much to help the issue of Becker’s lack of greenspace. It just makes one area a bit nicer.

All sports teams will get to use the field? When I was in high school, the giant parking lot in the front of the PAC was installed. One of the arguments for the installation, as I recall, was to help with student parking, as there was not enough room. Do you know who was allowed to use the lot? Staff and event parking only. I’m fairly certain that’s true to this day!

And even if maintenance fees are lower and the field is a better quality, some people just don’t particularly like the idea of covering the ground with plastic turf. Some would simply prefer we just kept the grass and paid a bit more in maintenance. 

The survey to the public last fall showed there was not much support for the field. Only around 50% of those polled said they would support it. Sure, that number was higher when voters were asked if they would support the project if it could be done without increasing taxes. BUT the board knew the results of that poll were skewed in their favor: the ones responding to the poll were most likely school age families and school staff. Of course they’d be more receptive! But those groups are not the only ones who will be paying for the project. So the rest of the public made their opinion heard on election day. 

But now the board has a chance to try again! So please, school board members, don’t ask for the same thing in a different bow: I doubt anyone is truly against adding classrooms and spaces for the tech classes: we know that there is a legitimate need for those. But this is not the way to get your artificial turf. The voters have said “No.”

If you truly believe the astroturf is a worthwhile investment, why not go out to local businesses and ask for the money that way? What’s wrong with fundraising? Sure it’s a lot of money, but you don’t have to raise it all at once. Get those middle and high school athletes to sell magazine subscriptions and seasonal treats. Once they’ve worked hard raising the money, they’ll know it was their efforts that made the field a possibility and they’ll appreciate it more than they would if it was only given to them.