DCPS Playground Use

[Anonymous]

DCPS often will lock up their playgrounds to prevent loitering, drinking and graffiti. Sorry to say that is a problem in many parts of the city. DPR playgrounds are usually unlocked.

Playgrounds are expensive to build and maintain, sadly. Kaboom playgrounds, as mentioned above, are usually built with the condition that the community can use them, but they have to have a maintenance plan in place since they can get run down fast.

[Anonymous]

Are the school playgrounds more appealing or is there a lack of public playground space in your neighborhood?? I'm asking because our school is completely locked down after hours, but there is a public playground right across the street, and quite a few others within close proximity. It sounds like it is completely up to the school itself. I'd call.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP! I can tell you that Bancroft's leaders and PTA have been agonizing for 2 years about how to come up with this compromise --it was not an easy decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It may depend on the school. We have been able to take our kids to Murch after school without any problem, but we were asked to leave Eaton.

I was just at Murch a couple of weeks ago to vote. I recall the sign on the fence said the playground was private property from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm for school and aftercare activities. But not sure how they would know if your kid was part of aftercare or not if you are just playing on the playground.

[Anonymous]

Oh no please don't say this is Bancroft! I take my 2 year old there between 5 and 6 o'clock often. It would SUCK if we couldn't go there. Going after 6 or 6:30 is not really feasible for a toddler with an early bedtime.

[Anonymous]

Yes, there was a message on the Mt Pleasant parents' yahoo group from the PTA informing parents that the Bancroft playground would be closed to children and their caregivers for most of the late afternoon. I can see how it would have been a difficult decision to make.
Unfortunately, it is quite a hike to another playground from where we live. The park on 16th (across from Mundo Verde / Creative Minds) is OK I guess but not well kept (and it is still quite far for those of us on the west side of Mt Pleasant). Amazing that DPR is right there and not much has been done.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I don't know why any school would let non-students on its grounds while it is conducting any programming for its students. Student safety should be the primary concern, and it's just not safe to have an "open campus" in the city. There are school/aftercare staff there responsible for caring for those students, and giving outsiders the ability to walk in adds to the complexity of keeping the students safe. I would be concerned if my charter school school did not exclude outsiders from the grounds, or people not enrolled in aftercare.

[Anonymous]

15:23 again. I went on mtpleasantdc.org and see the announcement about it there. This is so upsetting! The Bancroft playground, especially in its nice new renovated form, is one of the highlights of the neighborhood for people with little kids. It is a community gathering space, not to mention paid for with public money. I don't see how this can be a decision for the Bancroft PTA alone to make without any community input.

The idea that it is in the interests of "safety" to deprive a bunch of kids of a safe, fenced-in outdoor place to play is ridiculous.

Ugh, very upset about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there was a message on the Mt Pleasant parents' yahoo group from the PTA informing parents that the Bancroft playground would be closed to children and their caregivers for most of the late afternoon. I can see how it would have been a difficult decision to make.
Unfortunately, it is quite a hike to another playground from where we live. The park on 16th (across from Mundo Verde / Creative Minds) is OK I guess but not well kept (and it is still quite far for those of us on the west side of Mt Pleasant). Amazing that DPR is right there and not much has been done.

The problem, in my mind, is that unlike most neighborhoods in the city (rich and poor), Mt. Pleasant doesn't have a DPR rec center. The closest is Girard St./Columbia Heights. Bancroft's playground serves as a substitute. I don't know if this will ever change or if there would be space somewhere to build a rec center. Maybe fixing up the 16th St. park would be start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:23 again. I went on mtpleasantdc.org and see the announcement about it there. This is so upsetting! The Bancroft playground, especially in its nice new renovated form, is one of the highlights of the neighborhood for people with little kids. It is a community gathering space, not to mention paid for with public money. I don't see how this can be a decision for the Bancroft PTA alone to make without any community input.

The idea that it is in the interests of "safety" to deprive a bunch of kids of a safe, fenced-in outdoor place to play is ridiculous.

Ugh, very upset about this.

Clearly you are upset. However, you are not entitled to use every service paid for with public monies. Just try walking into a senior center and trying to get a meal. It sounds like the playground is open to all after 6 pm. Trust me, if you had little kids in that program, you would not want random people wandering through there, older kids tearing around pushing little kids over, or high school kids loitering and smoking. Open means open, not just "open to nice neighborhood families who want to play on the school playground." It is not ridiculous for the school to put the safety of the children in its care ahead of your needs.

[Anonymous]

15:23 you are kidding right? You can't understand why it's a safety issue for unaffiliated individuals (with or without kids) to be allowed on school grounds during school programming? The world revolves around you I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It may depend on the school. We have been able to take our kids to Murch after school without any problem, but we were asked to leave Eaton.

I was just at Murch a couple of weeks ago to vote. I recall the sign on the fence said the playground was private property from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm for school and aftercare activities. But not sure how they would know if your kid was part of aftercare or not if you are just playing on the playground.

I'd like to think that the aftercare staff would be able to recognize a non-student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15:23 again. I went on mtpleasantdc.org and see the announcement about it there. This is so upsetting! The Bancroft playground, especially in its nice new renovated form, is one of the highlights of the neighborhood for people with little kids. It is a community gathering space, not to mention paid for with public money. I don't see how this can be a decision for the Bancroft PTA alone to make without any community input.

The idea that it is in the interests of "safety" to deprive a bunch of kids of a safe, fenced-in outdoor place to play is ridiculous.

Ugh, very upset about this.

Clearly you are upset. However, you are not entitled to use every service paid for with public monies. Just try walking into a senior center and trying to get a meal. It sounds like the playground is open to all after 6 pm. Trust me, if you had little kids in that program, you would not want random people wandering through there, older kids tearing around pushing little kids over, or high school kids loitering and smoking. Open means open, not just "open to nice neighborhood families who want to play on the school playground." It is not ridiculous for the school to put the safety of the children in its care ahead of your needs.

Couldn't have said it better myself!!!!

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]15:23 you are kidding right? You can't understand why it's a safety issue for unaffiliated individuals (with or without kids) to be allowed on school grounds during school programming? The world revolves around you I guess.[/quote]

I mean, I can see how the way to prevent any children from getting hurt on a playground is to bar any children from ever playing on it, so in that sense, sure I can see why it's a "safety" issue.

But do I think it makes sense to bar community kids from playing on this nice safe fenced-off playground, which for years has been used as a community playground both during the week, on weekends, and during the school day if it's not otherwise being used? NO. I go there a lot and one of the REASONS it feels safe is that there are lots of people there, kids and adults, school-"affiliated" and not.

I of course agree that "school programming" takes priority over non-school activities, but that only goes so far. If a school soccer team is playing on the soccer field then of course others shouldn't be able to start playing soccer. But when the "school activity" is a bunch of kids playing on a playground, then no, I don't think that more kids and adults on that same playground creates an inherent "safety" issue.

It sounds from the other comments like some neighborhoods have other parks right across the street from the school playground, so community members can just go there instead. That is not the case in Mt. Pleasant. This will mean there is nowhere within reasonable walking distance to play outside for a lot of kids (since it's not like most people have backyards in Mt Pleasant either). I think the PTA or whoever made this decision should have considered that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Clearly you are upset. However, you are not entitled to use every service paid for with public monies. Just try walking into a senior center and trying to get a meal. It sounds like the playground is open to all after 6 pm. Trust me, if you had little kids in that program, you would not want random people wandering through there, older kids tearing around pushing little kids over, or high school kids loitering and smoking. Open means open, not just "open to nice neighborhood families who want to play on the school playground." It is not ridiculous for the school to put the safety of the children in its care ahead of your needs.

+1

I consider myself lucky enough to have a job and the money to pay for aftercare, and to have a decent aftercare option, even if it's true that I'd much rather be home with DD but can't afford it. I'd like to keep her safe while she's there, especially from folks who look down on kids whose parents can't spend endless hours in the afternoon schlepping them to the park because they need to work.