Letters to the Editor 6/7/09

June 06, 2009 08:29 pm

— Recreation, interrupted
To The Editor: One recent evening my husband took our oldest son to baseball practice at a field near Travis Elementary. While waiting on him, he walked our two younger children across the street to the school playground. As they played, an employee of the school came out and first asked my husband if he was a parent. The woman then asked if our children attended Head Start at the school. When my husband said “no” the woman told him that they weren’t allowed to play there and that they had to leave the grounds. My husband asked if the property belonged to a public school and the woman nodded. My husband’s response to that followed the logic that if the property belonged to a public school and we are public school taxpayers, our children should be allowed to play on the playground. This woman then told him that if someone got hurt the school would be in trouble and that the only reason the gates weren’t locked was because the lawn keepers forgot to lock them up after mowing that afternoon. Not wanting to cause a scene with the children involved, my husband did indeed leave the grounds. However, we have major issues with this. Our tax dollars enrich this community and the local education system ... why would we be restricted from using the outdoor facilities? Although many schools have fences around their playgrounds, they aren’t usually locked — and if these gates are locked during the day wouldn’t it be a fire safety hazard? Perhaps if we aren’t allowed to use the playground, they aren’t allowed to use our money? Something to consider ...
Tricia Cooper