(El Dorado County) District clashes with grand jury over Ponderosa field

Next step? District will submit official response

June 11, 2014

By Mallory Huff

Channel 3 KCRA

The El Dorado Union district disagrees with a grand jury investigation that found a synthetic athletic field to be potentially dangerous.

On Tuesday night, the district voted to continue to monitor the field and have further safety inspections as needed. But it will not make any changes immediately.

After a 5-month-long investigation, a grand jury found that a taxpayer-funded $10 million Ponderosa High School football field has sunk.

One portion drops down almost an inch from the rest of the field.

The grand jury gave the district 60 days to come up with a plan to fix it and report back. The district contends the field is safe.

In the past five years, there have been no reports of accidents related to the field's surface, the district said.

The California Interscholastic Federation inspects the field before every game and has not noted any safety concerns, the district added.

The district will now submit its response to the grand jury.