---> Update: the school has already reinstalled turf but the city of Saratoga has agreed that artificial turf is not used in the City parks. 

As a student of Saratoga High School, and having recently found out that the school is planning on replacing the old plastic turf on the football field with new plastic turf. We are requesting a change in the renewal of the artificial turf in the football field or a change in the two other artificial turf fields located at our school (the upper field and the softball field). 

Artificial turf,  or synthetic turf, contains many chemicals such as PFA’s which have been linked to cancer, which poses a serious threat to students as the majority of the sports are conducted on these grounds. Plastic turf also pollutes waterways with both PFAS — which are used on the artificial grass’s blades to keep them from sticking and are also known as forever chemicals because of their inability to decompose — and microplastics. Studies also say both microplastics and PFAS are found in 97% of human blood in the U.S. In addition to this, artificial turf is extremely prone to overheating to temperatures higher than those of the air surrounding it, which can be extremely dangerous to those on and around the fields, even if they do not have direct contact with the blades. In fact, in May 2022, UC Davis had to cancel their commencements because people started passing out from the heat produced by the turf. Not only does artificial turf’s susceptibility to extreme heat threaten players’ lives, but it also increases injuries for athletes in that it is less soft than real grass. This means that there is less give, forcing our ankles and knees to absorb the force from our athletic activities. Even pro athletes including in the NFL have been complaining about artificial turf, and soccer fields in Europe don’t use artificial turf. Lastly, as you may already know, artificial turf doesn’t last forever and will need to be replaced every couple of years.

Growing real grass during the summer, on the other hand, has a lot of benefits, such as the creation of a greener environment, the increase in students’ health, and decreased cost. Turf doesn’t look as good as real grass, it’s uncomfortable to walk on, the black tire bits always get stuck in our shoes, it gets dangerously slippery when wet, and just doesn't feel nice to touch. Contrast these conditions with those of the area of real grass in the quad, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to prefer artificial turf over real grass. 

Of course, it is to be expected that as a public school, we would have to watch our funds and limit the amount of money spent on certain school infrastructures. Real grass fields, however, are just cheaper in general. As Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc says, “Synthetic turf costs more to install, almost as much to maintain, and has to be replaced once it wears out.” More details and specific information about the costs of artificial turf compared to more natural alternatives may be found here.

Right now is a great chance to start planting grass, as the football field will not be used over the summer by any of our school teams. We would have the opportunity to plant the seeds and then revisit them during the fall semester when the grass would have already grown to an appropriate height.

Furthermore, before we learned about Saratoga High School’s renewal of the plastic turf in the football field, we had been working on advocating for a bill labeled SB 499. SB 499 is a senate bill that is currently going through the legislature, requiring school sites to replace heat-absorbing infrastructures with cool pavement technologies, which include natural grass, shrubs, trees, wood chips, and other natural systems. Basically, it would require public institutions, including schools, to replace certain infrastructures — including plastic turf — with more environmentally friendly and cooler technologies — including natural grass.

As of right now, we are aware that the school already has plans to replace the turf field this summer. If it is not too late yet, please think about the pros and cons of replacing artificial grass with new turf and weigh them with the pros and cons of replacing it with fresh grass. If you know of any board meetings that are going to be taking place soon in which we are allowed to make public comments, please let us know and we will prepare them immediately! We also hope to see this topic presented in upcoming board meetings so that the other two fields in our school and the fields in Los Gatos High School may implement real grass fields rather than artificial ones.

Thank you for reading this and considering our request!