Categories: News

Cummings Playground Conditions Discussed at School Committee Meeting

By Kate Anslinger

The School Committee discussed the latest on the Arthur T. Cummings playground at Monday night’s meeting. The original evaluator came back out to assess the current condition of the equipment following the few updates that were made in the last few months..

During a walk-through with Principal Ryan Heraty and Facilities Manager, Rich Cifuni, the evaluator suggested that the ground surface be replaced considering the material lacks the “bounceability factor,” which has the potential to cause injury when a child falls.

According to the evaluator, a child’s body should bounce when it falls onto the material, and the current condition of the surface doesn’t allow for that extra spring upon contact. Estimate requests have been made and another meeting is planned for the end of the month.

Going forward, there will be weekly playground checks conducted by the building custodian, who will make sure equipment is tightened and replacements are noted. Keeping in mind that the park is not only used by ATC students, but also by community members after school hours, the committee is hoping to make decisions that will take the community into perspective as a whole. There is also hope that the town will qualify for a park grant.

In other School Committee news:

  • Candidates are encouraged to apply for the open School Committee position. If you are interested, please send a letter of interest and resume to Town Clerk, Denise Quist, at: councilclerk@town.winthrop.ma.us, by January 30, 2018.
  • Interim Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard shared her thoughts on her first snowstorm of her reign.

“My responsibility jumped from having to worry about my family to three buildings and 2,000 students,” said Howard, who admitted that she was glued to the scanners. “I’m amazed at the amount of collaboration, discussion and communication efforts that are involved and impressed by the level of chaos that the town agencies could handle.”

Transcript Staff

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