Playgrounds, an essential infrastructure.
There is inequity in funding opportunities between newer and older schools in Edmonton when it comes to school playground replacement. Schools in wards Dene and Métis are affected the most, because of the era that their communities were built in.
Lets look at a current situation happening at Ward Métis right now.
Background: Forest Heights School is currently fundraising to replace an aging playground that was built in 1993 and has begun to deteriorate. They have been at work to raise the funds since 2018. The cost of a new playground is approximately $350 000.
This playground is located on school division owned land, and because of that, it falls into a jurisdictional grey zone where it is ineligible for both federal and municipal funding. Both the City of Edmonton and the federal government have deemed playgrounds like this one ineligible for large infrastructure grants because they see these playgrounds as falling under provincial/educational jurisdiction, even though playground infrastructure is not funded under provincial education funding. For the City's part, project management and funding support for playgrounds comes from the NPDP program (Municipal Parks and Development Program, $250 000 matching). However, NPDP support for playgrounds located on school land was withdrawn sometime in the last decade. This is causing a growing infrastructure debt and places an enormous burden on parents, who are also citizens and voters.
School playgrounds in newer areas are not experiencing this problem, because since the mid 70s or so, land use planning has generally situated community playgrounds directly adjacent to schools. These community playgrounds are eligible for provincial CFEP funding ($125 matching) as well as municipal NPDP funding ($250 000), and the redevelopment process/support was managed by the City of Edmonton because they are on community park space. Once communities like these have raised the initial $125 000, they stack CFEP + NPDP so that the budget is $500 000. Sometimes, the parent group contributes small amounts to the project, but they are not expected to shoulder the entire burden. At Forest Heights, and many other Northeast located Edmonton schools built prior to that, it is not possible to get access to NPDP, so with the same amount of effort, it is only possible can to raise half of that amount: $125 000 fundraised + $125 000 CFEP = $250 000 total.
In brand new areas of Edmonton, the situation is even more inequitable. The City of Edmonton owns all the land surrounding the school, and in addition to $250 000 in NPDP funding, brand new schools are eligible for $250 000 from Alberta Education. Because these schools are eligible for these large grants, they can immediately raise $500 000 with no extra fundraising necessary. If the community does any additional fundraising, it makes the playground budget even bigger, and increases the disparity even more compared to older central schools whose playgrounds need replacement.
Forest Heights and 9 other EPSB schools have formed the EPSB School Playground Coalition to help raise awareness of the inequities that exist between newer and older schools in Edmonton with respect to playgrounds. Their hope is to attempt to bring the City of Edmonton together with EPSB to discuss solutions to this issue. Joint use agreements could be renegotiated, or a new funding program could be created to help alleviate the disparity. All playgrounds should be treated equally, regardless of which side of the property line they lie on, because these school playgrounds are community playgrounds and are used both during and after school hours by the public. If the City of Edmonton wants to keep central areas vibrant and attract new residents as neighborhoods turn over, public infrastructure like playgrounds play a vital role.
The NPDP program does not currently have the capacity to support school playgrounds. If there is to be increased funding allocated to NPDP, it must be a decision of City Council.
As a Mom of 3 children, I fully understand the paramount need for adequate playgrounds in every community and their vital importance in the development of our children. Playgrounds are an essential infrastructure for our families and I will fully support this initiative if I am elected for City Council.