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Santaorita principal urges faster turf installation, cites safety and equity concerns
Summary
Tamara Ray, principal at Santaorita High School, asked the bond oversight committee to move her school up in the turf-field installation sequence to coincide with scheduled summer waterline and sewer work, saying ongoing drainage and field deterioration pose safety risks and create competitive inequities with other east-side high schools.
Tamara Ray, principal of Santaorita High School, asked the Tucson Unified School District bond oversight committee on Feb. 19 to reconsider the schedule for installing synthetic turf at comprehensive high schools so that Santaorita’s turf is installed during the same summer window as planned waterline and sewer replacements.
Ray told the committee the campus is scheduled for a temporary shutdown this summer for district-supported domestic-waterline and sewer work and said coordinating turf installation during that same shutdown would reduce repeated disruptions for instruction and student activities. “Being the only eastside campus without a turf field for an extended period places the Santaorita learning community at a distinct disadvantage,” she said.
Ray described long-running maintenance and drainage failures at Santaorita’s grass field that she said have created safety risks: a crowning work order filed in 2023 had not been completed and the field, she said, had not been crowned since 2008. The field’s uneven grade, ruts and poor irrigation, she said, have also damaged the adjacent track, preventing meaningful track repairs until field conditions are addressed.
Ray asked the committee to consider both operational efficiency and fiscal benefit from coordinating major infrastructure needs across the east side, noting that two other east-side high schools will complete turf installations and waterline/sewer replacements before Santaorita. “This type of facility imbalance raises concerns regarding student experience, competitive parity, community perception, and negative enrollment implications,” she said.
The chair thanked Ray for speaking; the committee did not make an immediate decision about changing the turf schedule during the meeting. The bond office and project managers will have the information needed for future agenda consideration, and Ray’s request was recorded during the call-to-audience portion of the meeting.
