Members of the Vashon school board have approved a $10 million bond proposal that will be taken to the public throughout next month before final decisions are made.

The plan is expected to cost “no more than $65 per year” for a home valued at $500,000, according to school district documents, and addresses the high school’s aging athletic facilities — gym, track and field — and Buildings F and K, which weren’t replaced when the new high school was built in 2012. Also included in the plan are minor repair and replacement projects at Chautauqua Elementary and McMurray Middle schools — paint, furniture, locker rooms and windows.

“This is the plan that we want the public to comment on,” board member Bob Hennessey said. “We’re trying to do that dance between giving the public something concrete to focus on, but also give them a chance to comment.”

The most expensive project in the plan is $5.3 million to replace the high school’s six-lane cinder track and grass field with artificial turf and an eight-lane, all-weather, rubberized track. Both the track and field flood during wet months, and the field is currently closed to most community groups and reserved for just 50 events every year — mostly high school football and soccer games and graduation — in order to maintain its quality.

The school district’s water use has also been scrutinized in recent months as the decision between grass and turf has been considered. Water District 19’s Bob Powell said earlier this year that the school district uses 6 to 8 million gallons of water every year on all of its fields — costing roughly $50,000 — and that the school district’s water bill could double if the water district moves forward with the fee increase that has been in discussion for seven years.

Hennessey said at the Dec. 8 meeting where the bond plan was announced, that islanders, including the school district, need to be stewards of the island’s limited water supply.

“(Artificial turf) is the wave of the future, well, actually, the wave of the past,” he said. “Putting millions of gallons of water on a field doesn’t seem smart.”

Meanwhile, board member Dan Chasan took issue with the decision to go with artificial turf because of the high replacement costs. A turf expert who spoke to the board in August said that both natural grass and artificial turf fields need to be replaced. He said replacement costs for a grass field run between $250,000 to $300,000 every 12-15 years, while artificial turf fields need to be replaced every eight to 12 years at a cost of $800,000 to $1 million.

“I cannot support artificial turf without knowing that we have the financials available for its replacement,” Chasan said.

Hennessey announced that his plan was to set aside half of a $100,000 annual stipend from the Vashon Park District — meant to cover maintenance costs on fields and facilities caused by use from its programs — for field replacement costs. The school district will set aside another $50,000 of its own funds every year. That plan has not yet been voted on by the board.

While the board has chosen artificial turf, it has also decided that the new field will not have crumb rubber as an infill and will instead contain an alternative such as bamboo, coconut, Nike grind (ground up tennis shoes) or another type of polymer. Crumb rubber has been a hotly debated topic ever since its use as infill in artificial turf athletic fields began. The University of Washington’s assistant soccer coach Amy Griffin, has spearheaded the campaign against it as she has a list of 116 soccer players, most goalies, diagnosed with cancer. She believes the crumb rubber is to blame for the diagnoses. The jury is still out as studies about a possible connection between the material and cancer are ongoing, including a federal study that is currently underway.

Most recently, Forbes published an article in March 2016 citing a study conducted by a professor at Scotland’s University of Stirling. The professor — Andrew Watterson, an environmental health expert from the university — said that “a number of carcinogens” were found at “various levels” in the crumb rubber.

“If the chemicals and metals remain locked in to the crumb, then there will be no exposure. However, it seems to be fairly clear that there may be some potential risk from some of these substances to sports people,” Watterson said in the article.

Other studies conducted by the Synthetic Turf Council and available on its website cite toxicologist Laura Green as saying crumb rubber “is neither known nor reasonably expected to cause cancer, and is otherwise safe for use …”

A decision has not been made about what the high school field’s alternative infill material will be.

The high school’s grandstand and stadium lighting will also be upgraded. A total of $375,000 has been set aside for these purposes with $225,000 going toward adding wheelchair access and reinforcing the current grandstand structure, and the remaining $150,000 going toward upgrading the stadium lights to LEDs.

Meanwhile, discussions about the high school’s track revolve around the track being too small and outdated to hold track meets. Multiple members of the school athletic community were at the Dec. 8 board meeting and spoke to the importance of having a larger, rubberized track.

VHS head track coach Rob Kearns said that other schools are already wary of having meets on the island because of the extra time needed to travel to and from Vashon. Combined with a six-lane track that will make meets run longer due to less athletes being on the track at once, meets can last well into the night. He said that when VHS hosts a meet at Tacoma’s Charles Wright Academy — which has a six-lane, all weather track — some meets don’t end until 7 p.m.

“Those two lanes make a much bigger difference than you’d think,” he said.

Assistant track coach Kevin Ross said that if the eight-lane track is built, VHS will be the only high school in the league with an eight lane track that it can call its own. Other schools in the league hold meets at stadiums, such as Silverdale Stadium on the Olympic Peninsula.

Also included in the current plan are repairs to the high school gymnasium. Unlike the former board, which came under fire by some for its proposal to allocate nearly $18 million of a $26.9 million bond to build a new gym and renovate the current one to be used for practice space and storage, the current board has decided to spend nearly $620,000 to install vinyl bleacher seats, replace the roof and seismically brace equipment inside the building.

“It’s important for the community to hear us and for us to let them know this is considerably down from $27 million (proposed by the former board last fall),” Hennessey said.

Board member Zabette Macomber agreed with Hennessey and said she hopes the community can understand the board has been “thoughtful and mindful” with the bond proposal.

The high school’s Building F, which was built in 1973 and currently serves as storage space, is not seismically sound and needs a new roof. A full seismic upgrade has been estimated to cost $2.5 million and board members have said they cannot justify spending millions on a building that students do not occupy. The current bond plan calls for no seismic work, but a new roof, which is estimated to cost around $142,000. For Building K, which is the same age as F, but holds the high school’s StudentLink and FamilyLink programs, $560,000 is slated to be spent on bathroom renovations and upgrades, a new roof and new HVAC system.

The last of the large projects includes $2 million to build a new, 3,500-square foot bus barn and maintenance building to replace the current old and failing structures.

Projects at the elementary and middle schools include $440,000 for furniture replacement and exterior paint at Chautauqua Elementary School, while roughly $1 million is being directed to McMurray Middle School for upgrading the locker room, replacing flooring and windows and exterior painting.

Outreach events

The Vashon Island School District board will hold four public information sessions in January before making decisions and submitting the final bond proposal to King County by Feb. 24. The public is invited to attend and ask questions or raise concerns.

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, board members will be in front of Granny’s and IGA.

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, board members will be in front of Thriftway.

6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, board members will hold a public meeting at the district conference room on the second floor of Chautauqua Elementary School.

10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Jan. 21, board members will hold a public meeting at the Vashon Library.

Islanders can also email comments or information about the proposal to the board at vashonschoolboard@vashonsd.org or to VISD Superintendent Michael Soltman at msoltman@vashonsd.org.