The Iowa City School Board deliberated over the redesigned plans for the new playground at Shimek Elementary School.
By Emily Kresse
With the next school year quickly approaching, Shimek Elementary parents have concerns about whether their children will have a playground to exercise on. Others are concerned that even if there is a structure, it will not be accessible to students with disabilities.
An ongoing conversation that started with initial plans to replace the old wooden playground in 2015 continued during the Iowa City School Board meeting on Tuesday.
Board member Phil Hemingway said making the playground more accessible is necessary and that “[school playgrounds] are public spaces and an extension of the classroom.”
The wooden playground was demolished a week after the 2016-17 school year ended, and construction equipment has taken over the land, yet changes to the plans have delayed progress. The project was initially expected to be completed by August, before the fall session resumes.
The Physical Plant staff, Shimek Principal Savannah Conlee, and the Parent-Teacher Organization chose the equipment proposal from Boland Recreation in December 2016, and the district awarded a contract to it for the equipment the following March for $99,275, according to board minutes.
Parents raised concerns that the plans for the new playground did not include enough activities for students with disabilities or access points, which led to a board work session on May 23.
The plans were updated based on the feedback from the work session and were presented to Shimek parents and the PTO on Monday and to the board on Tuesday.
The proposed changes were met with contention. Namely, the absence of the “Big Kahuna,” a giant fish that children and board member Phil Hemingway can crawl through, in favor of an ADA compliant ramp.
A Shimek sixth-grader spoke during the community comment time at Tuesday’s meeting to voice her support for the Big Kahuna. She said students took the time out of their days to vote on a playground and they chose the one with the fish feature.
Melissa Krishnan, whose 9-year-old son will start fourth grade this fall and is restricted to a wheelchair, said it was never just about the Big Kahuna.
“You have entire sections of the playground that have no play components for the mobility challenged,” she said. “Especially not for multiple disabilities; it’s not just wheelchairs.”
The redesigned playground featured a zero entry stretch, ADA compliant ramps, and a step to another play structure that wheelchairs could access with assistance. Duane Van Hemert, the director of School District Facilities Management Department, said on Tuesday that he thinks they can tweak the design to include both the ramp and Big Kahuna, but there are budgetary constraints and the ramps will not be ready for another six to seven weeks. That component of the playground will not be completed in time for school, but other elements will be ready.
The improvements would cost close to $10,000, Van Hemert said.
Board member Brian Kirschling said the Big Kahuna is important because “the kids did select the elements, and we’ve already purchased it.”
Jenni Mettemeyer, another Shimek parent dissatisfied with the attempts to make the playground accessible and the outgoing vice president of the PTO, said the only things available to a student in a wheelchair at the end of the ramps are a steering wheel, tic-tac-toe game, and a drum feature.
“It’s a ramp to nowhere,” she said.
The Physical Plant staff and parents will meet later today to discuss the re-redesigned playground, which would incorporate both the ramps and the Big Kahuna.
