Tell me if this is familiar: you load your kids on bikes or into the stroller with plans to go to a nearby school playground, and when you show up (on a Saturday/holiday/after-school hours) it’s padlocked closed, with various signs about not trespassing, and extra chains and security cameras to make the point. We’ve been dealing with these high-security playgrounds in Hillsboro for the last year and it’s a significant issue for families seeking locally accessible free play spaces.
A key part of family biking is finding a variety of fun, kid-friendly, and free destinations to visit and enjoy. That means looking for parks, nature areas, public libraries, and – I thought – public school playgrounds. School playgrounds provide additional bikeable destinations for us to explore, and expand access to other free things like basketball courts and track and field facilities. In our circumstances, one nearby school playground is both a desired destination and an important “cut-through” for a visit to see our friends, who live along a road we’d rather avoid. The school with the nearest basketball court is only a few blocks away (and the only basketball court nearby) making it a great destination for my oldest kid to visit with his neighborhood buddies.
The problem? The playgrounds are almost always locked.
Unfortunately, this is a common problem in cities around the country, and in some places, community, equity, outdoor, and climate advocates have taken notice. As the Trust for Public Land points out, over 28 million kids don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk from their home. Opening schoolyards for public access would be a game-changer, putting a free outdoor space within reach for millions of folks who currently don’t have such access. This is especially important for low-income and communities of color, who tend to have fewer parks, smaller parks, and less pedestrian access to parks near their homes. Access to these places without a car is key for children, especially those who might otherwise be left to spend weekends and summers indoors, with nowhere else to play.
He even pointed to the brand-new higher fencing and said, “they used the new bond money to build that.”
As for me, I keep calling my local school district. Over the last year, I’ve argued with school principals and become a semi-frequent caller to the facilities supervisors (who have been very helpful). I’ve been told all of the nefarious things that will happen if they unlock the gates, like graffiti and vandalism. Yet, as I repeatedly point out, the low/medium height chain-link fences around the schoolyards are easy for any able-bodied kid to climb over. (Case in point: when the school playground was still locked, even after multiple phone calls, my nine-year-old son sized it up pretty quick, “Mom, I can climb that for you.” And in about five seconds, he did.) So who are the schools keeping out with their fences? Families with toddlers, folks in wheelchairs, elderly, and those with limited climbing abilities.
At one school, I found a staff member and asked him to unlock the gate for me. He said he’d love to, and that people ask him all the time, but that he has orders from his boss (the principal) to keep it locked up. He even pointed to the brand-new higher fencing and said, “they used the new bond money to build that.” I looked at him incredulously. “They used the new bond money to build fences to keep people from using the playground?” (“Security” he said, and “they built other stuff too.”) Then, to appease me, I was told they usually leave the farthest back gate unlocked, which was confusing, because a facilities supervisor also mentioned this to me, regarding schools with single unlocked gates for those in-the-know (how secure is that?). I’m left wondering if there is some kind of plan to leave a least-noticeable gate unlocked, as if to fulfill some minimum requirement to provide public access to the playground, while hoping no one will actually use it.
Opening only one gate limits access (especially if it’s not ADA accessible) and it can be a deterrent for children and families who live on the other side of a large school ground (parents may allow their kid to go to the playground if the closest gate is open, making it a short trip). But those same parents may draw a line if their kid has to go solo all the way around to the furthest corner to find an open gate or traverse a more dangerous route to get there.
As biking and walking advocates look for ways to improve our cities with less reliance on cars, I hope that local schoolyards won’t be overlooked. They can be a vital community resource, providing free and accessible outdoor greenspace. Various nonprofits and grant programs exist (Kaboom , Green Schoolyards America, and even a possible federal Senate Bill: The Living Schoolyards Act of 2022) to help advocates greenify boring, asphalt-covered schoolyards while improving playgrounds. Adding trees to schoolyards can help lower summer temperatures, by providing shade and cooler climate for these spaces, which could then benefit the whole community, providing playspace, outdoor gathering space, exercise opportunities, and the mental health improvements that come from time spent outdoors. There are so many benefits waiting at the local schoolyard! But the first step is getting them unlocked.
Have you experienced this problem? Have you been able to get the schoolyard unlocked for public use?
Read more of Shannon’s columns here.