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Bellevue Parks and Community Services wins CAPRA reaccreditation, earns perfect score
Summary
The Parks and Community Services Department told the board it met all 154 CAPRA standards in its reaccreditation review following a virtual site visit; staff said the result reflects years of documentation and departmentwide effort and triggers new training and annual reporting requirements.
Bellevues Parks and Community Services Department announced it has earned reaccreditation from the Commission for the Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA), with staff reporting they met all 154 CAPRA standards.
Tony Esparza, assistant director of the department, presented an overview of the reaccreditation process to the Parks and Community Services Board and said a virtual site visit March 31April 2 and subsequent CAPRA review led to the agencys formal reaccreditation announcement at the National Recreation and Parks Association conference. "They felt we had met all 154 standards," Esparza said.
The reaccreditation process examines policies, plans and departmental integration across many functions. Esparza told the board the department assembled more than 150 pages of narrative and roughly 750 pieces of supporting documentation for reviewers, and that the review team met with executive staff and more than 20 standard leads who prepared materials. Director Shiozaki praised staff in remarks before the presentation, calling accreditation "a big deal" that requires a "long, arduous five-year process."
Board members and staff described the achievement as a departmentwide effort. Esparza said CAPRA not only reviews documents but assesses whether staff are "familiar with these processes" and whether practices are integrated into daily work. He noted the accreditation cycle now includes newly adopted standards and that staff will begin training to align with those updates.
The presentation also highlighted practical next steps: ongoing annual reports that audit selected standards year-to-year, additional staff training on new requirements and continued coordination between division leads and supporting departments such as finance, human resources and risk. Council member Hamilton encouraged staff to explore public recognition for the accomplishment.
Esparza and Director Shiozaki said the city will share an executive summary of the accreditation materials on request and provide access to the departments sharepoint materials for board members who want deeper review. The board did not take formal action on the accreditation announcement; staff flagged upcoming trainings and the departments commitment to continuous improvement as the next procedural steps.
The board received the update and asked staff to return with any materials or recognition opportunities the council could consider.
