Playgrounds are a part of elementary school life, but they’re also expensive and subject to federal accessibility laws and insurance requirements.
Great Falls Public Schools maintains 16 elementary school playgrounds and when pieces break, they can’t be replaced with pieces ordered online or with duct tape, according to district officials.
Heather Hoyer, incoming superintendent, said that district officials worked with the Great Falls Public Schools Foundation to develop a process for fundraising for playgrounds.
She said people like to donate for playgrounds, but it takes more than small fundraisers like cookie dough sales to fund playground improvements, which can range from $200,000 to $400,000.
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Brian Patrick, GFPS’ business operations manager, said that the playgrounds have to meet the federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and the rules changed years ago so that if the district is to make a change to a playground, it triggers a requirement to ensure a certain percentage of the playground is ADA compliant.
Hoyer said the district has to take the wider view in terms of funding, safety, and ADA requirements for playgrounds.
Lance Boyd, a GFPS assistant superintendent, said that the district has aging playgrounds and it’s getting harder to find parts, which have to be purchased from the manufacturer and can’t be purchased off Amazon.
Patrick said the insurance company also has to approve of those pieces and improvements.
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Patrick said playground pieces are expensive, but most modern playground equipment is durable and longer lasting, making them worth the investment.
“The community has been amazing through the years,” Patrick said of individuals and school PTAs for donating and fundraising for playgrounds.
He said the district is now taking a more active role by developing the process and working with the foundation for playground improvements.
Hoyer said the process involves a school administrator or PTA coming up with a vision for their playground; then meeting with district administration, including the buildings and grounds managers, to look at the project from the district perspective and ensure they understand pieces like ground work and safety.
Then they work with TD&H Engineering for an analysis of the playground to ensure the project will meet ADA requirements or if additional work is needed, such a ground work.
Then they’ll present to the school board for review.
Once the school board signs off, fundraising begins in earnest and once funds are raised, they can purchase and install the playground pieces.
Hoyer said she expects more projects to come through this process in the near future.
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The fairly new process allows the district to honor donor wishes and ensure playground projects fit within the district’s facility schedule, as there’s often a lot of projects going on, Hoyer said.
Hoyer said some schools come up with plans for full playground replacements, while others have to do their projects in phases due to the cost.
Chief Joseph Elementary is working on their project, which will be done in phases, Hoyer said.
At Mountain View, students were asked to identify what they wanted for their playground and are helping fundraise with activities like a walk-a-thon, she said.
Playgrounds at Lincoln and Sacajawea will be done this summer, Patrick said.
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Hoyer said the foundation has found that the playgrounds that get improved quickly typically have one large donor, since smaller fundraisers don’t raise enough.
Superintendent Tom Moore said that playgrounds have been replaced at Longfellow, Giant Springs, Riverview Meadow Lark and Whittier.
Costs have ranged from $200,000 to $400,000, which isn’t something available in the district’s overall budget, he said.
Moore said that when the district and school board were developing the bond levy in 2016, they wanted to keep it under $100 million, so playgrounds weren’t high on the priority list, leaving them largely up to PTAs.
He said the district is responsible for maintenance, safety and ADA compliance, which is complex and expensive.
Meadow Lark had active PTA involvement to fundraise for a new playground, something the district and foundation learned from, Moore said.
He said playground improvements have to be coordinated within the district’s overall facility needs and that the district has to provide equity to help the schools that don’t have an active or resource-rich PTA.
In the case of Whittier Elementary’s newer playground, the district received federal Community Development Block Grant funds through the city for public improvements in low- to moderate-income areas.
Boyd said West Elementary would also qualify for CDBG funds and they’re in conversations with the city for that potential future project.
Student fundraising and participation is important, Patrick said, since it provides ownership and the students “take better care of it when they have buy-in. They enjoy it more when they’re a part of the process.”
Boyd said that every school has issues with vandalism that the district, and students, have to deal with the consequences of adult behavior.
“”It’s a shame that we’ve had issues with that,” Moore said.
The district closed the Whittier playground to the public for awhile after adults vandalized the area shortly after the new playground was installed for roughly $250,000. The playground was recently reopened.
Boyd said the district does building and playground walkthroughs with focuses on student safety.
Some schools have large playground areas and they have to figure out whether to fence the whole area or parts of it and other ways to ensure student safety, Boyd said.
Patrick said the insurance company sends a team annually to walkthrough and evaluate buildings and playgrounds and they provide recommendations on safety.
“Insurance companies are a big deal in this equation,” Moore said, and those requirements drive a lot of what the district can afford to do.
Patrick said the district funds safety and maintenance through the overall budget, but there’s not enough funding to replace aging playground equipment at all schools.
Patrick said about a third of the elementary school playgrounds still need upgrades.
Since 2018, seven elementary playgrounds have been addressed and four are in the queue, so “we’re making good progress,” Hoyer said.
If community members want to donate toward playground improvements, they can call the foundation or if they want to help a specific school, call the principal to find out their plans and needs.
