CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The Horry County Board of Education approved about $120,000 to spend on new grass at Pee Dee Elementary to help prevent injuries on the playground.

“We found out there is decaying material below the surface from root material that was probably there when the school was built,” said Executive Director of Facilities Mark Wolfe.

Wolfe says there are always problems around the district with erosion from rain, but Pee Dee Elementary was persistent.

Holes continued to pop up on the 3.5 acre field outside the school, which Wolfe says led to several injuries.

Now the district has to go in and pull up all the grass and replace it.

“We’ve been going in and filling them so it’s time for us to go and do a strategic fix of the area so we can go in and get to the bottom of the problem,” said Wolfe.

Members of the board heard the proposal two weeks ago at a facilities committee meeting, but Monday’s Board Meeting was the first time the whole board took a vote on the project.

The $120,000 cost is the estimated proposal; however the price could change when the project is bid out.

Wolfe says Pee Dee Elementary is the only school in the district with persistent problems in need of this work.