Santa Rosa student athletes returning to the field this fall will find brand-new turf underfoot: Santa Rosa City Schools has approved the replacement of synthetic playing surfaces at all five of its high school campuses after the rubber fill material failed years ahead of schedule.
Key Takeaways
- All five Santa Rosa City Schools high schools — Montgomery, Piner, Elsie Allen, Santa Rosa High, and Maria Carrillo — will get new synthetic turf this summer.
- The rubber infill has hardened and clumped prematurely, creating safety concerns and degrading athletic performance on all five campuses.
- The $5.9 million project is funded through Measure C, a voter-approved school construction bond program.
- Work begins June 5 — the day after the last graduation — and is targeted to finish before fall athletics start in August.
- The district’s legal team is seeking to recover costs from original contractor KYA Services, LLC, under a 10-year warranty that still has three years remaining.
Why the Fields Are Being Replaced Early
The fields were installed roughly seven years ago by KYA Services, LLC, and are still within their 10-year warranty period — but district officials say the rubber infill began breaking down about two years ago. According to the district’s facilities director, as reported by the Press Democrat, “The rubber infill that is in the turf, we noticed about two years ago that it was starting to bond together.”
Santa Rosa High School’s co-athletic director Kenny Knowlton put it plainly: “The fill has all kind of crumbled together like mud, it sticks to cleats and there is no longer any bounce.” That loss of cushioning isn’t just a nuisance — hardened infill poses real injury risks for football and soccer players absorbing contact on what should be a forgiving surface.
Measure C Bond Funds Covering the $5.9 Million Tab
The full replacement cost will come from Measure C, the school construction bond Santa Rosa voters approved to fund district facility improvements. New installations will carry 12-year warranties — two years longer than the originals. The district’s legal team is simultaneously pursuing the original contractor to recoup the full cost, arguing KYA Services’ product failed to meet warranty standards. Whether that legal effort succeeds, district leadership is pressing forward so every campus has a functioning field when fall sports begin.
The turf replacement is one of several major capital investments underway across Santa Rosa City Schools. The district is managing an overall budget picture that county officials certified with grave concerns about long-term fiscal stability, making transparent use of voter-approved bond funds especially important to local families.
Which Schools Are Affected and When
All five of Santa Rosa City Schools’ comprehensive high school campuses are included in the project: Montgomery High School, Piner High School, Elsie Allen High School, Santa Rosa High School, and Maria Carrillo High School. According to the Press Democrat, demolition and installation work is scheduled to begin simultaneously across all five sites on June 5 — the day after the district’s last graduation ceremony — with a completion target in August before fall athletics kick off.
Athletes who use the fields for summer conditioning programs may face some scheduling adjustments during construction. District officials have not detailed specific summer access plans, but the aggressive timeline suggests a strong intent to minimize disruption ahead of the fall semester.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will fall sports at Santa Rosa high schools be canceled or delayed?
No cancellations are planned. The district timed the project to begin the day after graduation (June 5) and finish before fall athletics start in August. Summer training may require some scheduling flexibility during construction, but district officials are targeting full field availability before the fall sports season opens.
Who is paying for the turf replacement, and is the contractor being held accountable?
The $5.9 million cost is being drawn from Measure C, the voter-approved school bond that Santa Rosa residents passed to fund district facility improvements. The district is also pursuing a legal claim against the original installer, KYA Services, LLC, arguing the product failed under a warranty with three years still remaining. New fields will come with 12-year warranties.
Which Santa Rosa high schools are getting new turf?
All five of Santa Rosa City Schools’ comprehensive campuses: Montgomery High School, Piner High School, Elsie Allen High School, Santa Rosa High School, and Maria Carrillo High School. Each school’s synthetic athletic field will be fully removed and replaced. The district says the hardened infill material affected all campuses similarly.
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