Here's an update on what's happening with our playground.
A few years ago, Bell had a student in a wheelchair who was unable to access the playground. As a result, the PTSA stepped in and started advocating for an accessible and inclusive playground. Unfortunately, it has taken much longer than anticipated to remedy the issue. The good news is, the district has committed to doing the following by this summer (the initial commitment was a completion date of last summer):
- Accessibility – The district will make our playground ADA compliant (and ensure that it meets all other LWSD standards, including safety standards).
- Playground surfacing – The district will be piloting rubber play tiles at Bell. (The current LWSD standard is wood play chips.)
- Playtoy structure will be updated – The wooden play structure will be replaced.
Student voice is an important part of this project, and they will be involved in the creation of it. The administration team will provide images of different play structures and Bell students will have an opportunity to vote for the play structures they want.
The district also committed to installing an interim climbing dome (some of you may have seen it last week). It was installed on Thursday Nov. 11th, but there was an issue with the installation, so it was removed the next day. We know how frustrating this has been for many of our families. We are hopeful that LWSD will follow through on their commitment and our students will have a completed playground by this summer. We will continue our advocacy work until this project is completed.
