Playgrounds – Where Are You?

Alejandro LaraNews2 Comments

Culver City El Marino Language School. Photo: AJK Realty

I enjoy reading thefrontpageonline.com, and I read it on a daily basis to understand what is going in the Culver City community.

I have not seen you cover the delays in installing the play areas at the various elementary schools.

These playground areas were taken off service mid-year. The areas were gated off.

In some instances, like the El Marino kindergarten area, almost half the space was taken off service.

I am trying to understand:

  • Why this was done in the middle of the school year,
  • And why this has taken such a long time.

First, such a project should have taken place during the summer when the kids are away.

Secondly, if you are taking off such an important part of the various yards during the school year, the work should have been done immediately.

I thoroughly appreciate the School District.

I cannot help but believe, though, that this project has been mismanaged.

I am hearing that they finally have the equipment but that the delays were due to changes in the padded grounds.

Shouldn’t this have been researched prior to taking the playgrounds offline?

Wouldn’t you already have the playground equipment built?

As someone who does construction, these specifications should have been fully vetted prior to any work taking place.

Such changes should not be discovered after you take something offline.

Please look into this. It is frustrating not only to me as a parent but to the kids (and yes, I have anecdotal evidence via my son).
Mr. Lara may be contacted at lara_alejandro@yahoo.com

2 Comments on “Playgrounds – Where Are You?”

  1. Kathy Paspalis

    Please, in addition to your other CC reading, do take a look at the CCUSD website. All is revealed there regarding all construction projects!!!

  2. Steve Levin

    When the district started planning for new playgrounds, we discovered the existing playgrounds were unsafe. All school principals were immediately notified, messages were sent out to the parents, and a notice was posted on the district website. Plans for the new playgrounds were accelerated, but the district was not expecting to do this on an emergency basis, and it has taken time to get the job done safely and efficiently. I do not see any evidence of mismanagement. If you want a fuller explanation, you can go to http://www.ccusd.org and use the search box in the lower left corner to search for “playground”.

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