Point Reyes Light - September 16, 1999

Lagunitas kids lament loss of jungle gym

Less than a month into the new school year, trustees of Lagunitas School District have received several letters from students lamenting one of the most drastic changes on campus - the loss of playground equipment at the lower campus.

"Dear Board," one letter began. "Please build us a new play structure because we miss it and we are sad it is gone."

"Dear School Board," wrote another student. "We really liked the monkey bars on the old play structure. We need another play structure to play on."

Joining the clamor for a new playground structure, one Montessori parent asked trustees pointblank at Tuesday's school board meeting, "What am I going to tell my children when I get home?"

The so-called "play structure" - what would formerly have been called a jungle gym - on the lower campus has become a casualty of the state's tough, new playground safety regulations, which require the demolition of all play structures not up to the new code by Jan. 1, 2000.

However, the state never provided any money for schools to build safe, new playgrounds, said district Supt. Larry Enos. Now all 392 children at Lagunitas School District must share the one jungle gym on the upper campus.

Recognizing that sending kids to recess without a play structure is like serving them cake without icing, Lagunitas School District trustees agreed that building a new playground structure is a high priority.

As a result, trustee Richard Sloan has volunteered to drive to Los Angeles next month to attend a weekend seminar on how to become a state-certified playground structure inspector.

Although having a trustee become the district playground inspector is likely a conflict of interest, Sloan reasoned that if he knows the regulations, then the district can build a playground structure that will pass muster.

"I think once we know what it takes to build one, we can build it ourselves," Sloan told trustees. "I am committed to getting a playground back."

If anyone can do it, trustee Sloan probably can. Just last year, the Woodacre contractor served as foreman at a jungle gym-raising at the Woodacre Improvement Club in a community effort worthy of the Amish.

However, raising the money for a new play structure at the school will be a different matter entirely. After running up a massive deficit last year, Lagunitas School District's spending has come under close scrutiny by the Marin Office of Education.

A new play structure could cost the district as much as $25,000, and school board president Jeanne Marlow noted that the county would get "very upset" if the district suddenly went over budget by that amount this year.

Others who might get upset are teachers waiting for raises, and members of the district's budget committee working to make ends meet, Marlow said. "From my perspective, it's a high priority, but district salaries are also a high priority topic," she said.

Trustee Reede Stockton suggested that the school board might be able to match any money raised by parents for a new playground, but cautioned that the money would have to be cut from somewhere else in the budget.

Still, initial fundraising efforts for the new playground were approved by principal Darci Hammond, who gave the district's blessing to parents who want to set up a booth at the San Geronimo Valley Farmer's Market this weekend.

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