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Showing posts with the label @LGUSDSchoolBoard

LGUSD Full STEAM Ahead?? We're not trading SEL for a vacant "outdoor classroom", are we?

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What started out like this in September 2018... was transformed by March 2020 into this... THIS. IS. An outdoor classroom. There is no mention in the presentation materials about Van Meter's Full STEAM Ahead Project. What's the plan for this courtyard space outside of Van Meter's STEAM lab?? Hopefully, what was there pre-Covid is being preserved or at the very least its spirit and benefits are preserved by intentionally reproducing them elsewhere on campus. While a Life Lab space is in the Van Meter design plans, I'm not sure it fully accomplishes the same thing all on its own. Background: Mrs. Hill was awarded a grant by CTA's Institute for Teaching and invested massive amounts of her personal time building out that courtyard into a beautiful and lively space for our kids featuring a garden, a nasturtium tipi, blueberry bushes, a cozy seating area with a whiteboard, wildflowers, a root viewing box, and more. And she had exciting plans to incoporate a mural

Los Gatos community, this concerns you even if you don't work at or have kids at one of the affected schools.

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This image from spectrumlife.org reminds us " It takes a village " to raise a community of healthy children.  Speak up for the children in your "village". If artificial turf is installed on some subset of LGUSD campuses as part of the current landscaping project, this will be setting  a precedent of artificial turf usage that may extend across all 5 campuses in time. Actions taken by a community's public schools reflect the values, beliefs, and priorities of the community in which these schools reside.   If you live within LGUSD boundaries , you are represented by the LGUSD school board which was elected to make decisions, including how to spend the school district's budget, on the community's behalf.   The LGUSD school board is meant to be responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of its community.    Does use of artificial turf align with your values, beliefs, and priorities?   Part of the mission statement of LGUSD is to develop, through role

Downsides of artificial turf on LGUSD elementary school fields

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The downsides of using artificial turf outweigh the upsides. Image from aprilsmith.org . Go here to review the downsides to using artificial turf on campus areas OTHER than the play fields. Question whether motives for installing artificial turf outweigh these compelling reasons to dismiss artificial turf, especially given that alternatives are within reach... WATER USE UNDERESTIMATED - Uses water for cooling, cleaning, maintenance.  Required to maintain warranty. MAINTENANCE UNDERESTIMATED - Needs continual cleaning of dried-on sweat, spit, blood, vomit, dog poop/pee , bird poop, food, gum. Sweeping/leaf blowing. Brushing to keep pile up. Repairs. Requires regular testing of surface and infill hardness for SAFETY.  Warranties have restrictions inconducive to elementary school multi-use fields (no lawn chairs, no staking of bounce houses or tents, discourage food and beverage, etc.) HEAT ISLAND - Heats campuses, kids can’t play on it on hot days, endangers surrounding trees, affe

Downsides of artificial turf on LGUSD elementary school corridors & courtyards

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The downsides of using artificial turf outweigh the upsides. Image from aprilsmith.org . Below is a pared down list of downsides to using artificial turf, focused on concerns most relevant to areas of campus beyond the fields.  This includes spaces designed to be used as "outdoor classrooms" where it's envisioned the community's 5-11 year old students will gather, eat, and play during class time, recess, and lunch, such as outdoor corridors and courtyards, including a courtyard used daily by kindergarteners.   To review the downsides to using artificial turf on the play fields, see our original flyer . Question whether motives for installing artificial turf outweigh these compelling reasons to dismiss artificial turf, especially given that alternatives are within reach... HEAT - Artificial turf, even with plant-based infill, gets HOT.  For example, on a sunny, 80 degree day, it might be 110 degrees on artificial turf with cork infill.  Last schoolyear, we had 77 day

Safe Healthy Playing Fields!

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Image from  https://www.safehealthyplayingfields.org's  Health Benefits of Natural Turf Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc.   is a gold mine, in terms of both human resources and data. This organization works to raise awareness -  with facts - about why grass and natural surfaces are the best choice - for financial, environmental and public health reasons. Their explanations address five major areas: cost, injury, heat, toxicity to environment, and toxicity to athletes, especially kids. Follow them on social media for the latest... Tweets by SHPFC

Artificial Turf: Considerations for LGUSD School Board

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Image from the FAQ of turi.org In addition to providing the facts, with references, on chemicals of concern, heat stress, injuries, and environmental concerns, the 2020  Toxics Use Reduction Institute's Fact Sheet , designed specifically for municipalities and institutions, shares the following regarding children's environmental health: " Children are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals because their organ systems are developing rapidly and their detoxification mechanisms are immature. Children also breathe more air per unit of body weight than adults, and are likely to have more hand-to-mouth exposure to environmental contaminants than adults.  For these reasons, it is particularly important to make careful choices about children’s exposures."  

Will LGUSD's artificial turf contribute to the contamination of Los Gatos drinking water?

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Image from report by EWG.org " PFAS Contamination of Drinking Water Far More Prevalent Than Previously Reported " Wind and rain blow or wash pollutants off hard surfaces like streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and artificial turf systems into storm drains that flow untreated directly into our creeks and waterways. In LGUSD's proposed artificial turf "fields", water will rinse the chemicals off the weathered and worn plastic blades of "grass" as well as off the perforated carpet backing and perforated shockpad beneath. The chemicals will be rinsed into drainage pipes that flow directly to storm drains . Why wouldn't PFAS forever chemicals, lead, infill, plastic grass blades, microplastics, cleaning chemicals, and weedkillers be carried by rainwater and sprinkler runoff from local artificial turf systems into the surrounding storm drains that flow into Los Gatos Creek? Even David Teter acknowledged at our Town Hall meeting the greater volume

Installing plastic turf at elementary schools risks kids' long-term health & robs them of a holistic education.

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In an op-ed published in the 12/8/21 local newspaper "Los Gatan" (both the online and hardcopy editions),  Los Gatos resident Giulianna Pendleton urges LGUSD to "Prioritize children over plastic"... Read on the Los Gatan website or below.