9/28/07 * Daily Progress [full story]
The Albemarle School Board on Thursday gave the three county high schools - Albemarle, Monticello and Western Albemarle - approval to construct turf athletics fields, if enough private funds are raised.
An anonymous donor has pledged to donate $325,000 to each of the schools as well as Charlottesville High. Addition-ally, the Albemarle parks and recreation department is willing to commit $100,000 to each county school, according to Diane Behrens, Albemarle’s executive director of support services.
The estimated cost of a turf field is around $800,000. But the county and city may be able to negotiate a lower price per field because the four fields will be built in conjunction, Behrens said.
Booster clubs at the county schools will raise the remaining funds before transferring the money to the School Board so that the fields can be purchased through the state procurement process.
The board voted unanimously in favor of allowing the county schools to move forward with the fundraising.
Monticello had started a fundraising campaign in June. The other schools got involved only recently, when the unnamed donor pledged to each school an amount that will likely cover around half the cost of a field.
“That was an incredible development,” School Board member Brian Wheeler said.
Wheeler was one of several board members to support the turf field proposal enthusiastically. He did, however, add one caveat to the motion - that the board be allowed to participate in a discussion on the pros and cons of permanent versus temporary striping on the fields.
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