“These playgrounds are not acceptable!”

That’s the message members of Crawford Central School Board have been hearing about the new playgrounds at First District and East End elementary schools during recent public work sessions — a message that has at least one board member considering the possibility of seeking donations from local foundations for land acquisition.

East End closed for renovations in June and won’t reopen until the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. However, now that the building’s expanded footprint is in place, parents are sizing up the future playground situation — and they’re not happy with what they’re seeing.

With the First District expansion and renovation that started in the spring of 2008 pretty much complete, parents have seen the new playground in action — and they’re also not pleased.

It’s really a matter of simple geometry. Take two landlocked properties containing buildings, parking lots and, oh yes, playgrounds that no one ever described as “generous.”

Increase the footprint of the buildings. Make sure the number of parking spaces provided is in accordance with City of Meadville requirements. And then do the math. Already inadequate playground space becomes even more inadequate. At First District, for example, there was a loss of 1,500 square feet of playground space, dropping the original 9,000 square feet to the current 7,500 square feet.

First District PTO President Christine Norwood raised the issue in October; in November, the discussion continued.

At First District, a small play area on the lawn at the corner of North Main and Randolph streets includes a small running path. At the back of the building, a small dirt area — complete with a large stormwater drain in the middle and a sidewalk around the perimeter — constitutes the remainder of the school’s playground facilities.

“With 350 students, this is not acceptable,” Norwood said. “Someone needs to be accountable.”

The first step in the solution, she continued, is for the district to find new land.

East End parents attending the meeting don’t want to find the same issue confronting them when the beginning of the 2010-11 school year rolls around. “With East End targeted for School Improvement (for failing to meet all the minimum No Child Left Behind requirements for student achievement), we want open, grassy spaces where kids can work off energy,” Hannah Cosden said.

“I don’t know how this happened — how did we get into this situation?” asked board member David Miller, who was also a member of the board when plans for the project were approved. “It’s got to be rectified,” Miller continued. “Land acquisition is the only solution.”

Wasn’t the time to decide the kids needed a playground before the contract was signed?” asked Frank Schreck, who joined the board after that decision was made.

“The blueprints looked nothing like the school looks like,” Norwood added. “Parents have been concerned since the beginning, but they were told they would have adequate playgrounds.”

According to board member Asuman Baskan, that wasn’t what was said. “I was at those meetings,” she recalled. “We talked about what the traffic pattern would be (to and from the parking lot adjacent to the playground. “We thought cars would exit onto Highland Avenue, but we couldn’t make that work. The turnaround area took playground space.”

The board then looked at a house on Highland that was on the market at the time, Baskan continued, but when they asked, “Where is the budget going?,” they weren’t sure enough to be comfortable making a commitment to spend even more money.

“We did consider site acquisition, President Ross Prather recalled, “but our focus was locked into the budget.”

According to estimates provided by Landmarks Design Associates Inc., the district’s architect for the elementary project, it will cost approximately $380,000 for land acquisition, site improvements, soft costs and contingency at both sites.

According to Michael Dolecki, the district’s superintendent, the budget for phase three of the ongoing project, Neason Hill and West End elementary schools, hasn’t yet been finalized. In fact, that part of the project has been put on temporary hold. “We have concerns about finishing those within the budget,” Dolecki said. “We may have to go out (into the bond market) for more money to finish,” he added. “We could include playgrounds in that borrowing.”

Board member Stuart Rothman had another idea. “The district has gotten major dollars from a local foundation for other purposes — like the football field,” he said.

Kevin Maziarz, who joined the board in July, noted that he has a hard time considering “going back into the till when we already have a $38 million to $40 million budget” and said that he wants to find alternative ways to take care of the playground issue. “A lot of other places raise a lot of money,” he said. “We owe it to the community to not use district money to make that happen.”



Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-7370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.