PTO needs $70K to build playground for handicapped

By Dawn Treglown

CENTRE — A local group of citizens is hoping to improve the daily lives of more than 100 young students at Centre Elementary School.

Connie Winkles, president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at CES, said the school's playground needs to be updated to include varied more activities that are handicap-accessible. The playground currently includes a few five-point harness swings, but little else for handicapped children.

“There are about 102 students at Centre Elementary School that receive some form of special education services,” Winkles said.

Of those students, at least five are in wheelchairs and seven more are in the multi-disabilities class, she said.

“We've gotten estimates, and it looks like we'll need between $65,000 and $75,000 to install a new playground, with the main bulk of it going toward a new ground cover,” Winkles said.

A poured rubber ground cover is required for students in wheelchairs. The current ground cover consists of gravel or river rock, which wheelchairs cannot navigate.

The Cherokee County Board of Education's Special Education Department has already set aside $10,000 for the project, but much more needs to be raised to make the playground a reality.

Winkles said the use of the new playground will help students meet goals set by their parents, teachers and therapists, thus helping them become functional members of their classroom, their community and society.

Required elements of the new proposed playground include a wheelchair-accessible ground surface; wear mats to go under swings and at the end of slides to prevent wear on the ground surface; shade or cover to protect the children and the new expensive equipment from the heat of the sun and increase the playtime during the hottest months of the year; handicap-accessible swings; additional tire swings; and several sensory devices designed to promote social interaction and language development. The playground will also require accessible exterior water fountains and fencing to provide safety and security.

The handicap-accessible equipment doesn't come cheap, either. A spring rider costs around $500, and a tire swing with A-frame runs about $3,000. All safety features are included with the equipment to make the children's play time both fun and safe.

The group's vision is for all children to have equal play options and provide children with special needs the opportunity for normal social interaction.
Winkles said the group has a vision of a two-phase project. The first phase is the completion of the proposed new wheelchair-accessible playground. The second phase would include renovation of the other playground at the school for the older children.

The school's PTO is calling upon businesses, civic organizations and church leaders to help raise the funds to build this new playground.

“The Kiwanis Club of Cherokee County has already raised $500, with a challenge to other groups to raise money for the new playground,” Winkles said.

She said the PTO plans to go before the Board of Education in November to ask for more money for the playground.

“And then we're going to legislatures,” she said. “The kids deserve the right to be kids and play on a playground with other kids.”

To donate money for the new playground, make checks payable to Cherokee County Board of Education CES Playground Fund and mail to Cherokee County Board of Education, 130 East Main St., Centre, AL 35960. All donations are tax-deductible.