NEISD declines City of San Antonio interlocal for Hidden Forest turf field; trustees ask staff to revisit with council and PTA

The Northeast ISD board voted 7–0 on Jan. 14 to decline an interlocal agreement presented by the City of San Antonio to fund a synthetic turf installation at Hidden Forest Elementary.

What happened: City Council District 9 had allocated $210,000 through participatory budgeting to install artificial turf in the school’s walking track. District staff told trustees the city’s allocation would cover the installation costs as estimated earlier in the process but would not cover recurring cleaning, annual testing or long‑term replacement when the turf reached end of life. Those ongoing maintenance and replacement costs would fall to the district.

Trustee concerns: Board members raised two consistent themes: long‑term maintenance liability and the vulnerability of an unsupervised, publicly accessible turf area to misuse or vandalism. Trustee Villareal and others asked whether campus cameras, enforcement or PTA fundraising could reliably mitigate those risks; administrators replied the city’s $210,000 contribution was for installation only and cameras or ongoing monitoring would be additional district expenses.

Motion and follow‑up: A trustee made a motion to decline the interlocal agreement as presented; the motion passed 7–0. Trustees asked staff to return to Councilman John Courage’s office and to the Hidden Forest PTA to explore alternatives, including whether the city funds could be repurposed for another district‑approved project in District 9 or whether the community could propose a maintenance plan that would lessen the district’s long‑term liabilities.

Context and takeaway: Administrators said city funding was identified through District 9’s participatory budgeting process in 2023 and that a soil assessment later showed additional site preparation would be required. The district also noted that synthetic turf fields typically require annual cleaning and periodic testing: those service costs and eventual replacement are not covered by the city grant.

Ending: Board members said they did not want to ‘‘lose the money’’ if there is a viable, lower‑risk alternative. Staff committed to contact Councilman Courage’s office and Hidden Forest PTA officers and to report back to the board.