Background

Around 2016, West TV's then-Principal Kalay McNamee initiated a fund drive to pave the track: the Paved Path Project. The goal was to pave three lanes of the existing track to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. (Neither wood chips nor gravel are ADA compliant.)

The original cost estimate for paving with asphalt was about $175k. The estimate for adding a soft surface on the asphalt was another $35k-$40k, with reapplication needed every 10-12 years. The track has drainage problems, and a significant portion of the base cost was addressing those problems to reduce the likelihood of damage to the paving.

Over roughly two years of active fundraising, the project raised $64k. The project spent $17k on initial engineering, studying feasibility and permits. That left about $47k, which is currently in PTC and WTV accounts.

The project has been on hold since the roof problems at the start of the 2019-2020 school year and the subsequent appearance of COVID-19. It seems likely that, since then, the cost of completion has gone up significantly.

The overall remaining cost will probably be in the range of $500-$1000 per student, and the previous fundraising records suggest that it will take at least five years to raise the remaining funds needed for the original plan.

BSD has no firm plans for West TV yet, but there is some chance that the school will be replaced sometime after a 2028 bond measure. Whether that would affect the field is unknown.

When Terra Linda Elementary put in their own paved track, they had a single donor who contributed over half of the funds.

Survey Results

The PTC is trying to determine how to proceed on the project, and in March 2022 we sent out a direct email to WTV parents with a short survey to help determine the next steps. There were 66 responses from community members. The results of the multiple-choice survey questions are on the left. There is a summary of all responses including text responses here.

Next Steps

The PTC Board is currently in discussions about how to proceed, but has not yet reached any conclusions. If you didn't fill out the survey but would like to provide feedback, please email any board member or come to the next PTC meeting.