Sinkhole costs $42,000 Insurance covers balance of repairs at Grosh Field

By: MICHAEL C. UPTON Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Warwick School Board discussed the final cost summary for the sinkhole that opened up Grosh Field earlier this summer during a brief and sparsely attended meeting Tuesday night.

The board’s Building and Property and Finance and Legal committees went over the figures earlier this month.

Heavy rains in early June opened the sinkhole, which nearly swallowed a classroom’s size of the multi-million dollar synthetic football field. Construction crews, engineers and district maintenance staff worked quickly to correct the situation and have the field available for a soccer tournament on July 29. After Tuesday’s meeting, Finance and Legal Chairman Darryl Miller and District Business Manager David Zerbe said the cost to the district would be approximately $42,000.

The total repair cost topped out at $127,000, with insurance covering $85,000.

"The net to the district is a lot less than what I expected," said Miller.

Zerbe said insurance covered much of the cost associated with fixing the field because it is actual district property.

"That’s damage to our property; they covered that," Zerbe explained. "Just pulling the rock out and putting stone in, that’s not covered. That cost us $20,000."

The board also completed standard business, approving resignations, elections, transfers, and changes of status of district personnel at all levels.

In the first non-personnel related attachment to the agenda, the board approved the first reading of the revised board policies. Notably, the new board policy will strike the words "at no cost" from the sentence regarding extracurricular activities: "The board shall maintain the program of extracurricular activities at no cost to participating students."

Added to the new policies is a section dedicated to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

Board member Todd Rucci also reported the Student Activities Committee discussed the district’s compliance with Act 101, which deals with concussions, and the Safety in Youth Sports Act.

Also in athletics, the board unanimously approved a motion to accept students from the Veritas Academy, a Christian school located in Leola, into the Warwick boys’ and girls’ soccer programs.

"Veritas is no longer offering boys’ and girls’ soccer, so we are able to bring them on (to our programs) and we are happy to have them," said Rucci.

At the time of the meeting, Rucci did not know how many students would be joining the soccer programs.

And that was about it for the September school board meeting for Warwick School District.

"It was kind of a short meeting," said board president Dr. Timothy Quinn prior to adjournment. "(It) sounds like the school year has gotten off to a great start." More SCHOOL BOARD, page A16