SPOTSWOOD- The borough’s youngest students were without a playground when attending Schoenly School, and this year went without one atAppleby School.
But both elementary schools now have a new playground, thanks to the efforts of the Board of Education, the Kids Play citizens group and other dedicated parents.
Three years after Schoenly School got its newplayground, theAppleby School facility has just been completed, according toDonna Faulkenberry, board vice president. Faulkenberry, who also served as chair- woman of the board’s playground committee, said a ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
Appleby School’s former playgroundwas shut down after a state inspection found numerous violations. One problem was it was considered dangerous because of its wood construction, she said. Officials said that some students had received splinters while using the equipment, which had not been properly treated and sanded. Other violations included the height of the decks, the material of the slide and the spacing of equipment.
The shutdown occurred around the beginning of school last year.
Faulkenberry said the new playground includes five slides, monkey bars, eight swings and a number of bridge spans, or areas for kids to run across.
“We tried to keep the design similar to the old one,” she said, “But this is a larger, more expansive playground.”
Located behind the school, the playground also includes benches and a par course, an outdoor gym with workstations such as pull-up bars. It will be also be used by the school physical education classes.
Most of the equipmentwas up by the end ofMay, with the only work remaining being surfacing and mulching.
Faulkenberry said the new playground marks a real turnaround for students.
“These same kids were at Schoenly School [which educates kindergartners and first-graders] thewhole timewithout a playground,” she said. “Andwhen they got toAppleby, the playground went down. It just wasn’t fair to these kids.”
Kids Play had already raised some funds to make renovations to the old playground, but thatmoney was used to help pay for the newone, she said. Faulkenberrywas chosen to chair theAppleby Playground Committee because she had an active role in getting a newplayground at Schoenly School in 2005.
If the school budget had been voted down in April, capital projects such as the playground would likely have been put on hold. But with the budget approved, district funds were used along with those raised by Kids Play. The playground cost about $100,000, Faulkenberry said.
“The board looked at our fund balance and made this a priority,” Faulkenberry said.
“I’m very grateful to the support of our parents and Kids Play to get this up as soon as possible,” she added.
The new playground will be christened with a ceremony.