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Parents say district's donated playground design excludes students with disabilities; Rosenau received limited accommodations
Summary
A parent group that planned the district's inclusive Play for All playgrounds told the board the district accepted a $1 million donation but selected designs that are not accessible districtwide; Rosenau Elementary received limited accessible pieces but some equipment was not installed on schedule.
Laura Henry, a leader of the grassroots Play for All project and mother of a student with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, told the board during public comment that a $1,000,000 donation to the district did not produce playground designs accessible to students with physical disabilities.
Henry said she and co‑leader Candace Hayward spent two years researching inclusive playgrounds and fundraising, and that the donor — identified in the meeting as NEBAP — gave the district $1,000,000 to buy playgrounds for all nine elementary schools. She said the structure shown in district presentations was primarily climbing, steps and ropes and would not safely accommodate children who use wheelchairs or who cannot climb.
At Rosenau Elementary, Henry said the district installed a small ramp, a wheelchair rocker and one accessible swing at a reported district cost of $15,000, and that Play for All had raised about $36,000 in community donations that could have purchased additional accessible pieces for other schools. She said three pieces of Rosenau’s playground were not installed when the structure was unveiled and that an installation purchase order had been delayed. Henry said the district later paid an additional installation fee after the oversight.
Why it matters: parents and disability advocates say accessible playgrounds are part of equitable access to school programs. Henry said district officials declined to make the main structure accessible districtwide and offered families two difficult options: forgo a new structure or accept the inaccessible design with limited accommodations.
The parent asked the board to recognize the gap between the donor’s stated intent and the resulting equipment and said she would continue to press for more inclusive pieces at all schools. The board did not take formal action on the playground issue during the meeting; the comment was part of the public comment period.
