Located in McHenry County, Illinois, Community High School District 155 is a high-performing school district that serves students in four high schools. In 2021 the district was ranked in the top 12 percent of public high schools nationally, a statistic which proves the superior education the students receive in this district.
The commitment of the staff in the district extends past academic success to include a broad range of athletic activities like football, soccer, lacrosse, and shotput and give kids a chance to develop their abilities outside of class too.
THE CHALLENGE
With four high schools to maintain, each with their own athletic fields, the grounds management team started to feel a lot of pressure in terms of time management, lack of manpower and uncontrollable weather.
THE SOLUTION
They decided they needed a more efficient way to paint their fields and so in June 2022 they brought on board a new team member – the Turf Tank line marking robot.
Painting football fields 5x faster
Jay Locascio is the Grounds Supervisor for Community High School District 155 who explains that the main factor that pushed them to get a line marking robot was efficiency. Taking a look back and the way they used to paint fields in the past he describes:
When we painted football fields in the past, there was a lot more involved. It was all by templates and string. You start by measuring the field. Then you lay out string, you mix your paint, fill your paint, paint all your lines, all your numbers, all your hash marks, all your kickoffs then you clean up all your string lines and templates. Then you clean up your marker.
Jay Locascio, Grounds Supervisor
Taking the example of a football field, Jay draws a comparison, which shows that a job which used to take 16-20 hours, can now be completed five times faster.
Painting a football field
| Past | Turf Tank |
| 16-20 hours | 4 hours |
| 30 gallons | 15 gallons |
Not only is the robot finishing the job much faster, but due to its autonomous design it can paint the entire field all by itself, freeing the turf manager more time to focus on other tasks around the facility.
Having the Turf Tank allows us to do other responsibilities such as mowing grass, weed whipping, dragging baseball fields and so on, while the robot is painting.
Jay Locascio, Grounds Supervisor
Using 50% less paint
In addition to the time saved, the district is thrilled with the robot because they’re also saving paint. In fact, they’ve managed to reduce their paint consumption by 50%!
Taking the example of the same football field, Jay explains that in the past they needed 30 gallons of paint to complete the entire field. Now, all those lines can be painted by the robot using just 15 gallons of paint.
We’re a lot more efficient.
Jay Locascio, Grounds Supervisor
This is possible due to the robot’s consistent speed and spraying pressure. Compared to variable human walking speeds, the robot ensures that each line gets the same amount of paint and thus they all have the same brightness and uniform look overall.
Shared between all high schools in the district
District Community High School 155 is committed to optimizing their operations among all the high schools in their jurisdiction, so they are thrilled they can share the robot among all four high schools in the district. This way they ensure all athletic fields in their district are in pristine condition, while optimizing the use of resources.
To schedule how to share the machine, Jay explains that the staff uses a Google Calendar, so they can keep track of who needs the robot when, based on who has home games, who goes to playoffs and when there are special events.
Conclusion
The introduction of the Turf Tank Line Marking Robot at Community High School District 155 has proven to be an invaluable tool, allowing the staff to save time and money. With its autonomous operation, it helps the staff paint entire fields five times faster, while reducing their paint consumption by 50%. The district is thrilled to have a tool which not only optimizes the use of resources, but also creates professional looking fields for all the high schools in their district.
