The architect overseeing Lagunitas School District's campus-improvement project said Tuesday she will ask Ghillotti Brothers Construction company to recheck its paving of Lagunitas School's playground.
Nine parents Tuesday complained to district trustees that the asphalt pavement is uneven, puddles in places, and is dangerous.
The pavement was graded to aid drainage, but school officials said they are unsure if the slopes meet specifications.
"A lot of taxpayers have paid to have a nice schoolyard for their kids," said John Beckerley of San Geronimo, a 20-year coordinator for local youth basketball programs. The playground is so uneven that children trip and fall down when playing kickball, he said.
"This is a travesty. It's not level at all," Beckerley said. "Somebody got ripped off here, and it shouldn't be the community."
Money for the district's $382,000 paving project (including a new parking lot and bus turnaround) came from a $2.5 million bond measure approved by Valley voters last year.
Forest Knolls resident Peter Oppenheimer wrote trustees that he promoted resurfacing playgrounds with bond funds and now feels embarrassed and frustrated for doing so.
"Being a basketball player and world traveler, I have had occasion to see firsthand paved courts and playgrounds in India, Thailand, Indonesia, and throughout the United States.
"Nowhere, including the most poverty-stricken areas with far less resources ... than were available to us, have I seen a single one with the kind of unevenness, including dips, bowls and waves, as on our new playground.
"I urge you to confirm this evaluation by consulting with independent engineers.... Ask them whether or not the apparent drainage cost-cutting measures instituted in this case resulted in a remotely safe and satisfactory product."
Others at the meeting told trustees of concerns for no tether-ball equipment, construction debris dumped nearby, and puddles or "bird baths" where the playground didn't drain.
Athletic instructor Anny Owen told trustees one step toward a solution "is to get an independent surveyor to [check playground slopes] to see if we're nuts or spoiled jocks or what."
Trustee Steve Charrier said the district's project manager, Jim Waltoon, will survey the playgrounds to see if the contractor did "what they were hired to do." The new playground does seem to have more of a grade than expected, he added.
Jean Lemanski, the architect overseeing the project, told The Light there are ridges and swales in the yard to direct water to drainage basins, but they were not designed to exceed a quarter-inch vertical slope for each horizontal foot.
Contractor Ghilotti is being asked to verify the grading, presumably with transit and level, she said.