Regional School District 15 board authorizes up to $85,000 to replace failing Longmeadow Elementary playground section

The Regional School District 15 Board of Education on Sept. 8 authorized up to $85,000 to replace the front section of the Longmeadow Elementary School (LMES) playground after school staff and vendors determined repairs to the aging equipment were not cost-effective.

District staff presented a months-long review that began in January when a tall slide at LMES showed signs of bracket failure and general structural aging. The superintendent explained the district initially sought repair estimates and learned the specific replacement parts were no longer manufactured, which pushed the district to consider replacing the failing 30-year-old structure rather than repeatedly repairing it. The board received two vendor approaches: Ben Shaffer Recreation (on the Connecticut state bid list) provided a schematic and a working estimate of roughly $75,000–$85,000 for replacing the front section; a second vendor proposed a seasonal-discount match but had not yet submitted a formal quote.

Why the decision mattered: board members said the playground serves large daily groups of students (the superintendent noted the site can see 100–150 students at a time) and that the structure posed a growing liability risk for unsupervised periods. District…