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District shifts turf plans to middle school, cites funding plan; transportation and food-service updates provided
Summary
After environmental constraints blocked turf at Harder Road, the district proposed a turf field at Finley Heisen Middle School with a five-year payment plan and shifted some teams and practices; transportation route refinements and a food-service vendor beat revenue forecasts.
The Morris School District finance committee outlined changes to athletic facilities and operational services, saying environmental restrictions prevented turfing at the previously planned Harder Road site and led the district to develop a turf project at Finley Heisen Middle School instead.
The finance spokesperson said the district had to abandon turf at Harder Road because of wetlands and an endangered-species restriction and redirected the project to Finley Heisen, where the design includes a turf field lined for field hockey, adjacent baseball and softball fields and expanded spectator areas. The administration said the district expects to fund construction through a payment plan with roughly five years to repay, allowing construction to proceed without immediate capital outlay and targeting completion in spring 2026.
District staff said teams will be reassigned: varsity boys and girls soccer will move from Greystone to the new middle-school turf; JV and freshman soccer will continue at Harder Road. Middle-school soccer and field hockey will relocate to upper fields at Finley Heisen. Officials estimate a roughly 50% increase in facility usage and said added parking and bus parking are additional operational benefits.
Transportation updates included service to 31 different facilities, continuation of additional local high-school bus runs within the 2.5-mile radius to reduce tardiness and absences, new late bus runs for clubs and sports, and routing optimizations based on GPS analysis. The district reported about 5,249 students will ride buses this year and said nine new drivers and four new aides recently joined the transportation team.
In food service, the district's new provider exceeded its original sales forecast by about $500,000 (a 24% increase), attributed to improved meal quality and cafeteria-line changes; about 1,300 students are 'directly certified' for free or reduced-price meals.
No formal board action on the turf project or capital payment plan was recorded at the meeting; staff said more details would follow as contracts and schedules are finalized.
Quotations in the meeting highlighted supply-chain impacts across projects: an official noted project timelines changed because of environmental constraints and vendor availability, and the finance committee said the district had secured or was close to securing funding arrangements to proceed.
Next steps: staff will return with further project details, timelines and any contract approvals needed for construction and field reassignments.
