The Kennett Consolidated School District is planning a series of sports field upgrades, including refurbishing the synthetic field at the high school sports stadium, the all-weather synthetic track, and the tennis courts in the summer of 2020. The firm of Architerra, PC was appointed to do the architectural work at the Kennett School Board's July 8 meeting.

The planned upgrades to the sports fields is part of the school district's five-year plan for capital projects.

As he introduced the discussion about the sports field upgrades, business administrator Mark Tracy noted that the synthetic turf at the stadium is now 12 years old, which is longer than the ten-year life that was projected at the time the turf was installed.

School board member Dominic Perigo explained that district officials were less than pleased with the turf in the first few years after the stadium was built, but the turf did hold up for a lengthy amount of time, even if it wasn't as good of a product as had been hoped.

Architerra, PC will oversee the design development, construction documents, public bidding, and construction administration. The school board approved an expenditure of up to $47,500 for these architectural services.

The school district has a long relationship with Architerra, PC, and the firm has overseen the rebuild of the high school stadium, work on Legacy Fields, and the construction of a middle school baseball field, among other projects, for Kennett.

Perigo said that he would like to see the district explore the possibility of adding more electricity to the sports stadium, as well as more access to water, while construction work is being done on the stadium. He also raised the possibility that an extra lane be added to the high school track so that Kennett could host district championships at its stadium. However, because of the complicated logistics of adding an additional lane to the track, it is unlikely that this will be a viable option.

The school board approved the fees for various Kennett High School events for the 2019-2020 school year. Tickets for musicals will be $6 for students and $10 for adults. The cost to attend the school play in the fall will be $5 for students and $8 for adults. Tickets for athletic events will be $3 for students and $5 for adults. The cost to attend regular dances will be $5, while the Homecoming and winter formal dances will be $7. All of the fees for the 2019-2020 school year are the same as the last year.

In his report to the school board, superintendent Dr. Barry Tomasetti informed the school board that Kennett's summer school programs were now underway. There are 260 students taking part in the various summer school programs. Tomasetti said that the school district is always working to add to the summer offerings that are available to students. Research has shown that students who take classes over the summer see less of a regression than students who do not attend any classes during the break.

The school board approved a series of personnel items on the agenda, including retirements, new hires, and supplemental contracts.

“We are officially in hiring season,” said assistant superintendent Dr. Michael Barber.

The Kennett School Board will not meet in August. The new school year gets underway on Aug. 26. The school board will meet again on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Mary D. Lang Kindergarten Center.