Community Asks Francis Howell School Board to Consider Turf

For the second straight Francis Howell Board of Education meeting, conversation during the public comments portion of the night focused on just one thing: turf.

Francis Howell High School has synthetic grass on the athletic field while Francis Howell North and Francis Howell Central do not. The Board of Education approved the synthetic turf in 2009.

A group of Francis Howell Central supporters, including head football coach Todd Birk, came to the board meeting Thursday to make a pitch for the turf field. 

Birk said he has been patient for the last two and a half years that Howell has had turf and his school still has grass, but he would like to see all three Francis Howell high schools get synthetic fields. He said it would help with practices, games and just general all-around use. 

Mike Hodges, a parent, said a synthetic surface would be less hard—he compared the current field to concrete. Hodges also said it would help out athletes and the school by eliminating weather issues. 

This fall the boys soccer team at Francis Howell Central had a home playoff game moved because of poor field conditions after a storm. 

The turf issue isn't on the agenda for the school board to discuss just yet, but could be in future meetings.

As part of the Francis Howell project, money is being used on athletic facilities. Parents and Boosters Club members said they have spoken with Supple to see if they could get some money for synthetic fields.