Parents Donate 35k for School Playground; Fairfax County Deems it Unsafe

Elementary school parents fundraised and donated cash to get new climbing equipment installed at Farifax County’s Stratford Landing Elementary. And on the day it opened for students to use, some busybody condemned the equipment as unsafe for school kids. Normally, I’d condemn county meddlers, but in this case, this playset looks only slightly dangerous, but mostly boring.

From the Dailymail here:

Health and safety killjoys have been slammed for shutting a new school playground before it was even opened over fears a child could be injured.

Parents had spent months raising $35,000 to pay for new climbing frame outside Stratford Landing Elementary School, in Fairfax County, Virginia – and claim they worked with authorities to ensure the site met required standards.

But before a child could set foot in the playground, authorities performed a last-minute U-turn and deemed it to be a hazard.

The school’s facilities department insists the new equipment must be dismantled.

However, Fairfax has pledged to spend about $135,000 from the county’s coffers replacing the equipment.

Although parents worked with the Fairfax County Public Schools facilities department, purchased the equipment, hired a contractor and had the playground ready for recess, the school system suddenly deemed the play equipment too dangerous. Since November, last year, it has been off-limits, parents say.
The same equipment is installed at more than 1,200 parks and schools across the country, including a public park in the county.

A playground is useless without a good metal slide, monkey-bar mazes and a swingset. This ugly thing only sports a climbing web and stupid curvy bars that are too difficult to use as handholds. If I was still 7, I wouldn’t play on it. I’d have more fun throwing mulch.