Davey Elementary PTO fundraising for more accessible play spaces

Davey Elementary playground. Submitted photo

Davey Elementary School has three playground areas, but they are so inaccessible that some children with special needs miss out on their daily recess time. If they can even get to the play areas, these children often sit on the sidelines, watching as their peers enjoy unstructured time, games and laughter.

The Davey Elementary Parent Teacher Organization plans to change that — if it can raise enough money.

The PTO’s two-phase project includes:

  • Replacing all of Davey’s main playground equipment with accessible pieces and exchanging the mulch ground covering with a poured rubber surface that wheelchairs can easily negotiate. (The Americans with Disabilities Act considers mulch to be an acceptable playground surface, but many wheelchairs simply don’t operate well on it, said Davey PTO President Kara MacDowell.)
  • Pouring the same rubber surface from the school’s sidewalk to an accessible swing set in Davey’s small preschool playground and installing a music wall: a wall outfitted with brightly painted pots, pans, spoons, homemade chimes and other common items that children can hit to make noise.
  • Replacing the asphalt base in an octagonal gaga ball pit with the poured rubber surface. Gaga ball is a game similar to dodgeball, but the walled structure keeps the ball from going AWOL. The gaga ball pit is in the play area closest to Majors Lane and is earmarked for Davey’s fourth and fifth grade students.
A rendering of the proposed accessible playground equipment. Submitted image

The school’s students with special needs face many challenges each day, including just accessing Davey’s playgrounds, MacDowell said. Children who use wheelchairs must go through the school’s lower gym, which they can only reach via a chairlift on the stairs. The device is slow and can only transport one child at a time. Recess time may be over by the time all the children reach the playground.

Since some children cannot directly access the playground areas as their peers do, classroom aides walk them out to Lowell Drive, a dead end street that runs diagonal to the school. That street has no sidewalks bordering Davey, so the aides end up walking the children down the middle of the street to a driveway behind Davey that leads to the playground: unquestionably a potentially dangerous endeavor, MacDowell said.

If the aide happens to be alone, he or she must grapple with unlocking and relocking a gate at the driveway entrance with one hand while holding onto the child with the other.

The problems don’t end once the children reach the playground. Because wheelchairs and other ambulatory devices do not do well on mulch, the aides must lift and carry the children to the various play areas and swings.

This task becomes more difficult as the kids grow, so the aides end up just leading the children around the school or playground areas. The youths miss out on what recess is really all about: developing valuable social skills and playing with peers, MacDowell said.

Davey’s PTO has so far raised just over $116,000 in grants and donations, but is looking at a total project cost of about $425,000, she said.

Kent City Schools is on board. Assistant Superintendent Justin Gates said the district is ready to release $30,000 stockpiled from donations provided by Friends of Greg Starc, a fundraising organization formed to memorialize Greg Starc.

Starc served as an intervention specialist at Theodore Roosevelt High School from 1984 until his sudden death from complications due to a brain aneurysm in 2010.

Fr.O.G.S. (Friends of Greg Starc) sponsors an annual golf outing that raises about $8,000 a year, all of which supports the Kent schools’ special education fund, said Starc’s surviving brother, Joe Starc.

Funds have been used to purchase a van used to transport students to and from job training experiences in the area, but this year’s proceeds are earmarked for accessible exercise equipment and the inclusion playground project, he said.

The 13th Annual Friends of Greg Starc Golf Outing is set for Sept. 21 at The Fairways at Twin Lakes. Rain or shine, registration begins at 11 a.m. The cost is $100 per person.

Contact Joe Starc at [email protected] or 330-644-9732 or Jim Durkin at [email protected] or 312-656-9547 for more information, to register as a golfer or just to let the nonprofit organization plan a guest list.

Since the project’s timeline and budget needs remain in flux, Gates said the district is having difficulty committing additional funds at this time.

“That is certainly something we can look at assisting with and collaborating with them once they get everything finalized as far as the end cost,” he said. “We’re really excited that the Davey PTO has undertaken this big project.”

Hoping to bolster its bank account, the Davey Inclusive Playground Project will host a Hollywood-themed fundraiser from 6-10 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Bell Tower Brewing Co., 310 Park Ave. in Kent. The event will include dinner, drinks, entertainment and a silent auction. Cost is $100, half of which will directly benefit the playground project. Guests must be at least 21 years old.

Each ticket includes complimentary beverage choices of soft drinks, beer, house wine and signature cocktails. In keeping with the classic Hollywood theme, guests should plan to don semi-formal attire and to focus on red and black clothing to support the Davey Dragons.

Ticket sales close on Aug. 17. Tickets are available online through Eventbrite (for $108.55, including fees) or by contacting www.daveypto.org/playground.

MacDowell notes that Davey’s grounds are open to the public year-round, and that Kent lacks any accessible playgrounds of Davey’s size. Because neighborhood children regularly use the Davey playground, MacDowell said the PTO would actually be providing all Kent’s children with a safe and engaging location to play and to develop the motor and social skills necessary for lifelong health and wellbeing.

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Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.