So far, only the "positives" of turf fields have been spun in the press. It is time for the Board of Education, the Howard County Council and the county executive's office to do a credible cost-benefit analysis of turf fields (including annual maintenance and replacement) versus maintaining the current fields.

That is the only way to add credibility to this decision. Otherwise, we are making decisions based on generalities and suppositions, not fact.

I sent a letter over a week ago offering to perform the analysis. As an adjunct professor of accounting at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, I teach my students how to do this.

This is absolutely required when looking to make a decision regarding a capital expenditure where there are two viable alternatives.

To fail to do this and make a decision in a vacuum is to spend our hard-earned tax dollars without proper stewardship.

Suzann D. Medicus

Clarksville