Reply to DCPS Playground Use

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes in fact this particular park is a public park - or at least that's how it's been treated for the past few years.  The school can't use the broader community to support its petition for a brand-new, much bigger playground (it would never have gotten $$ for the brand-new playground if it hadn't included the broader community's need for such a playground in its request for the renovation), then shut that community out.

Also, if the school uses PTA funds to pay for playground upkeep, they are - again - relying on the broader community.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to participate/donate to a fundraiser.  I happily do so, as a member of the community that cares about the school, but I expect that kindness to go both ways.[/quote]
Such weird stuff on DCUM from people who for some reason have a chip on their shoulder about Bancroft. What fundraisers? The PTA really only had a single big fundraiser--the tree sale. Christmas trees are something people would buy anyway (unlike, say, many items at richer schools' galas) so it's not an outright donation. Maybe you're also counting $1 tickets for the raffle at the spring fair?

I'd be interested to know how this poster knows details about the petition the resulted in a new playground. If you look around DPCS schools, it looks a lot like other schools' new playgrounds (eg Eaton, Murch) so I don't buy the argument that Bancroft had to promise something extra to the community to get it. The previous playground was a wreck, so something had to be done. Plus, the community is hardly "shut out." You can use it all you want before 8 am and after 6 pm M-F and all weekend.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

We followed the process pretty closely.  To be clear, I wasn't using "petition" in a formal legal sense.  The construction process created a lot of controversy in the neighborhood, and both the school and the city repeatedly told the community that the playground would benefit the community immeasurably.  During the opening of the playground city leaders made clear that they considered community benefits when building the playground.  There was extensive community discussion regarding the playground - check out google if you don't believe me.  In addition, the playground has been wide open to the community for the last two years.  All of this created certain expectations for families in the neighborhood, which is why this latest move was so disappointing.

That said, I appreciate the posters saying that this latest rule hasn't been enforced.  That will make my little ones very happy!![/quote]

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