School officials review playground safety issues

Missouri children slide into danger daily, judging from national statistics that show playgrounds in the state are among the least safe in the nation.

But local schools insist their equipment is safe and every effort is made to guard against putting children at risk during recess.

Playground equipment is safer for children now than it was 20 years ago, said Jeff Bollinger, director of operations for the Jackson School District. A lot of parts are plastic coated, he said.

J.B. McClard, who supervises maintenance at the Cape Girardeau public schools, said today's playground equipment doesn't have exposed bolts, a possible hazard to youngsters.

"They are just designed to be safer," he said.

The Show Me State in 2004 scored a C on the safety of its school, day-care and public park playgrounds as judged by the National Program for Playground Safety.

Missouri ranked ahead of only eight states, according to the University of Northern Iowa-based safety program which inspected more than 3,000 playgrounds nationwide.

But Missouri's school playgrounds showed improvement from a study four years earlier. School playgrounds in Missouri garnered a C-minus in 2000. Four years later, they had improved to a grade of B.

But school playgrounds in the state need further improvements, said Donna Thompson, executive director of the playground safety program.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education doesn't regulate playground equipment. Neither do most other states.

"There are only about 15 states that have regulations on playground equipment," Thompson said. "It is very frustrating."

Thompson said states are reluctant to impose regulations because it could prove costly to school districts.

But it would result in safer play areas for school children, she said.

About 80 percent of injuries to children at school occur on playground equipment, Thompson said.

The statistics alarm her.

More than 200,000 children, 14 years of age and younger, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries on playground equipment each year.

About a fourth of the injuries occur at home. The other 175,000 occur at schools, day-care centers and public parks, Thompson said.

Concerned about safety and the threat of litigation, some schools across the country removed swing sets, monkey bars and even slides in recent years.

New elementary schools in Atlanta are being built without playgrounds.

At an elementary school in Stockbridge, Ga., frequent accidents on the monkey bars prompted school officials to restrict their use to children who are tall enough to reach the first bar while standing flat footed.

At Jackson's North Elementary School, principal Dave Gross keeps a close eye on playground safety.

At his request, school district maintenance workers removed an old jungle gym from the playground this summer. Gross worried that students would slide off the bars and suffer injuries.

"I just thought we were pressing our luck to keep it around," he said.

In its place, the North Elementary playground has a new play structure with plastic slides. There's less chance for injuries, Gross said.

While there aren't any state standards decreed by DESE, liability insurance standards typically require schools to maintain some level of playground safety.

The Missouri United School Insurance Council, which insures the Jackson schools and many other public school districts in Missouri, has standards for playground safety.

"We check playground equipment every week," said Jackson's Bollinger.

While some of the nation's schools have removed monkey bars, Cape Girardeau school officials don't view monkey bars as a risk.

"We have never had a complaint about monkey bars," said Rob Huff, assistant superintendent.

School officials said teachers supervise recess to make sure that students aren't risking injury.

Cape Girardeau public schools use pea gravel as a base for their playground equipment. That provides a landing cushion for children, Cape Girardeau's McClard said.

Some playgrounds now utilize a rubber surface created from shredded tires.

But local school officials said it's expensive and the material rubs off on children's clothes.

"There are no statistics that show it is any safer," McClard said.

First-grader Madilyn Dunn, 7, doesn't care about safety statistics. She just wants to have fun during recess at Blanchard Elementary School in Cape Girardeau.

"I like to play on the ladybug," she said, referring to a dome-shape structure of bars. "Me and my friends, we like to climb on it."

Principal Barbara Kohlfeld enjoys seeing the children have fun at recess. But she said safety remains a top priority for school staff. "Safety comes first," she said.

At Scott City Elementary School, principal Courtney Kern takes safety seriously.

So much so, that she and her staff have taped off one piece of playground equipment they deem unsafe.

It's metal fireman's pole and an adjoining apparatus that students used to climb.

Kern worried that kindergarten students might fall off the apparatus.

Students could reach the equipment from an adjoining corkscrew slide. Kern said the school plans to enclose the platform so children can't reach the fireman's pole.

When it comes to playground safety, she said, school districts must rely on common sense.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123