Pay to play: Councillor calls for equitable school playground funding

A city councillor wants to find a more equitable way to pay for Winnipeg school play structures.

Play structures on school grounds are typically paid for through provincial funding and fundraising by volunteer parent groups. Some school divisions have city-funded structures through historic agreements with the city, while others have matched funding from parents or have chosen to forgo parent fundraising entirely.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) says a disparity has emerged over the years: Lower-income neighbourhoods face more trouble getting playground amenities funded, leaving them with aging or damaged structures. Newer schools are going without play structures entirely as parents struggle to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It’s just a strange system where you’ve got parents on the hook for this stuff,” he said Sunday.

He plans to hold a “10-day task force” to seek suggestions from school divisions, the province, parents and other groups, resulting in a report with recommendations he will present to city council.

Mayes said he’d like to see a more standardized approach to play structure funding, whether that means securing provincial funding for the structures, with school divisions or the city taking on repairs or upgrades, or a cost-sharing plan between all three levels of government.

“We can’t just keep relying on parents. And I do think there’s a city role here… What exactly that should be? I’m open to ideas,” he said.

The task force is set to hold its first meeting at the Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre Jan. 19, with a report expected to be published Jan. 28.

As the cost of living has skyrocketed, it has become harder for parents to foot the bill for expensive play structure upgrades and additions, said Andy Dujlovic, an executive co-chair with Sage Creek School’s parent advisory council.

“It’s tough. It’s definitely tough,” he said.

“That’s not to say that parents don’t step up, for sure, they do, we have various fundraisers that we run through the school that are successful, but it’s not what it used to be, and it doesn’t quite meet the needs (of) what we would need.”

He said the recently-opened École Sage Creek Bonavista is going without a play structure while they attempt to raise nearly $500,000, and while Sage Creek School has a play structure, as its population has grown, additions have become necessary.

The parent advisory council is currently fundraising to complete the installation of a “Gaga ball” pit — an enclosed structure kids can play in — that could cost $20,000, Dujlovic said. The school would benefit from a second swing set, he said, but it would cost another $100,000.

“I don’t think people understand just how costly these things are,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg School Division no longer allows door-to-door fundraising for building upgrades or school trips.

Over the past two years, the province’s largest school division has instead committed to three school board-funded playground upgrades every year.

“We’re not putting the onus on parent communities to sell hot dogs or perogies,” Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson said.

He said he’d like to see a model that engaged the province and the city to make strategic use of their resources.

“If there’s a three-way partnership between school divisions, the province and the city — there are lots of joint use agreements between the city and school divisions that it would make sense to have these partnerships,” he said. “I think when partners bring their resources together, they go a lot further.”

Last month, the province announced it would be providing $100,000 to Bairdmore School in Richmond West to replace its aging play structure.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca