News | Article
from Fontana Herald News
Pasture or Playground?
by Bob Otto
Fontana (August 3, 2007) - During the Hands On Inland
Empire Design Day at North Tamarind Elementary School, the
teachers and students told me their playground is in were right.
This may be the most pathetic excuse for a playground I've ever
seen.
I grew up on a farm and I've played baseball on better cow
pastures. It's more suitable for grazing sheep or cattle than
for children to run and play on. The grass is more than six
inches high and the field is lumpy, uneven and dangerous.
There's a baseball diamond, but the ball would surely get lost
in the deep grass. And youngsters from kindergarten through
fifth grade would have trouble running the bases in the thick,
tangled mess.
When asked about his playground, fifth-grader Francisco Cabrera,
11, bluntly said, "It's horrible." Teachers at the school say
it's dangerous; they say their kids are afraid to run on it for
fear of tripping and falling. "They could sprain their ankles on
it," said kindergarten teacher Donna Falcon.
How did it get in such dire straits? Principal Jason Angle said
that the district's lawn mowers are out of service. If so, then
those mowers need to be repaired pronto. The school has limited
space for kids to play as it is. And with a playground rendered
unusable, it just makes matters worse.
The Fontana Unified School District needs to put the playground
on the high priority list. How difficult can it be to refurbish?
Mow it, level off the uneven spots with a disc or grader, seed
the bare spots, water it, and the kids will have their
playground back in short order.
Granted, Hands On and The Home Depot are throwing their muscle
behind giving the school a much-needed revitalization. But I'm
not sure they can give this "pasture" a makeover in one or two
days. As it is, I wouldn't let my grandkids play on it. I'd be
howling mad. In fact, why haven't North Tamarind parents raised
a fuss? Get going, parents. Start a petition drive. Complain to
the school board. Write letters to the editor. Picket in front
of the school and the FUSD administration building. Your
children deserve so much better, and you need to see that they
do.
Pasture or playground? As a former farmer, it's a pasture.
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