By KAITLYN ALANIS

Staff writer

When watching the Hillsboro Trojans football team play in Joel H. Wiens Stadium this fall, fans will notice something a little bit different: flying black rubber as athletes hit the turf.

“When you see kids running and getting tackled, it will look a little like it does in college football,” said superintendent Max Heinrichs. “It’s going to be black flying.”

The district recently paid about $13,500 to add rubber to the field because the bounce rate when athletes hit the field was not safe, said activities director Robert Rempel during the district’s board meeting Tuesday.

“It was a little hard,” Rempel said. “So when you look at people hitting it, you have to keep that up if you want to have yourself backed in case of a liability issue.”

Rempel said the turf also will need replaced in about two years. This turf has lasted longer than expected, as it had an eight-year warranty and is now on its ninth year. Some seams in the turf are being replaced in the meantime.

Oree Johnson, a senior in sports management at Tabor College, was approved as an unpaid coaching intern for the high school football team. He plans to coach in his future, but needs internship hours to graduate.

A $2,500 transfer from the district’s supplemental general fund to the food service fund was approved to cover an anticipated shortfall due to meal prices.

“By us putting our prices where we did, this is saying we’re going to make up for those nickels that we didn’t add on (to student meal prices),” Heinrichs said.

About $24,000 will be paid during the school year to cover the lower meal costs.

Heinrichs also announced that the district purchased 650 pairs of safety glasses for all Hillsboro students and faculty to wear when viewing the solar eclipse Monday. Teachers will teach lessons relevant to both the solar eclipse and their class material.

The 2017-18 budget has about $20,000 extra in padding, Heinrichs said, and the mill levy remains the same as last year.

“We feel pretty good where the budget is,” Heinrichs said.

Since May, the district has been using a Visa cash back rewards card to make purchases and has received about $730 in rewards.

A budget hearing will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at the district office.