PROS AND CONS OF UNLOCKING PUBLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS

RE: Nearly 750 public school playgrounds padlocked: [City Councilperson Gale] Brewer is wrong to say: “There aren’t any problems at the Parks Department-run school yards.” An important factor is being ignored. It is vital to ensure the schools' right to secure the playgrounds at recess periods during the school year. The Parks Department playground adjacent to our elementary school underwent a renovation a few years ago. The Parks Department then tried to enforce its official policy - that the playground gates could not at any time be closed against the general public, even during recess. The school (like many others) simply didn't have enough recess staff to allow kids to be out there with open gates, but the Parks Department would not budge. For some time the playground went unused. The school (like others) had to then fight a battle for an individual unofficial arrangement with the Parks Department. If a large-scale turnover of school playgrounds to the Parks Department is being sought, this official rule/policy of theirs must be changed citywide, to specifically allow schools to close the gates during recess or other times during the school day.
Ellen Pundyk, Parent, Manhattan, August 10, 2006

I am a parent on the PTA Executive Board of an elementary school in Brooklyn. The reason that schools lock their gates to schoolyards and playgrounds is very simple: Vandalism. Our school experiences vandalism all the time. Our custodians are constantly painting the schoolyard walls, and schoolyard floors with a fresh coat of paint to hide the obscenities, graffiti, gang insignia, anti-Semitic signs, etc. They are also picking up the beer bottles, the crack vials, cigarettes, condoms, broken glass, and garbage. We have contacted the police, taken pictures, notified the NYC Department of Education, and local politicians to help us rid the schoolyard of these individuals. It did not work. So gates are locked. Now our schoolyard is clean and safe for the children who attend the school. Now they can use the schoolyard to run and play and climb on the playground equipment without worry about chards of glass and broken equipment.
L. Dalton, Parent, Brooklyn, August 14, 2006

I work for the DOE and I must say that I totally agree with this [the padlocked playgrounds]. My school is located in the Harlem community. The problem with keeping the yards open is that parents are not monitoring the children's use of it. The children from the neighborhood mark up the walls of the playground. Adults smoke and urinate and leave their garbage in the yard. There are hundreds of city parks that parents can take their children to where they will have more fulfilling recreation time. There are hundreds of free activities that occur every month that parents can take their child to. I encourage schools to protect their yards for the students that they serve so they will have a safe and clean place to play.
LeShawn Hodge, Department of Education employee, Manhattan, August 11, 2006

Kejal Vyas' article on padlocked playgrounds brings up many important points about access to sites outside of school hours. The City Spaces program of The Trust for Public Land does ensure access during these times. The sites are owned and managed by the DOE and kept open through partnerships with community groups that offer access and programming after school, on weekends, and in the summer.
Susan Clark, The Trust for Public Land, Manhattan August 14, 2006