Some voters are questioning whether the all-weather track and field are necessary or worth the cost.

The track and field are over 40 years old and don’t meet the demands of co-curricular activities that have grown from original needs for football and track to also supporting soccer and lacrosse and heavy use by boys’ and girls’ teams. Use of the grass field is severely limited. Standards set by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for track meets and soccer playoffs require a rubberized track and synthetic FieldTurf field, respectively.

We have not hosted a track meet for over 10 years and “home” playoff games for Vashon High School soccer are played in Tukwila. We are one of a handful of schools in the Puget Sound region that have neither a modern track nor field.

On Vashon, more than 60 percent of our kids are involved in sports. We have 550 kids playing soccer, and participation by girls has doubled in the last 10 years. Due to limited fields, heavy use and grass surfaces, fields are regularly closed for practices during the fall season. This past November, nearly half of the soccer practices were canceled due to unplayable fields, limiting exercise opportunities for our kids.

Most school fields are closed during summer for grass regeneration and rest. An all-weather field at the stadium would allow unlimited use in summer and use by high school and club soccer, lacrosse and football teams, easily tripling potential field use. This would reduce wear on the McMurray fields and keep them playable throughout the school year.

A modern track is safer for athletes, can be used by a broad section of the community for after-hour use and promotes exercise for all ages. An all-weather field requires no irrigation, fertilizers, mowing or field lining, saving $20,000 and 80,000 gallons of water per year.

Please join me in supporting Proposition 2, for our schools, for our kids and for our community.

— Lorin Reinelt