Page 121 - Wellness Promotion Policy Annual Report FY19 & FY20

STUDENTS STUDENTS
Physical Education Physical Education
& Physical Activity Environment & Involvement & Physical Activity Environment &
Nutrition
Nutrition
Physical Environment EMPLOYEES Engagement Family Physical COORDINATING POLICY, PROCESS, AND PRACTICE Counseling, Social & FAMILIES Physical Environment EMPLOYEES Engagement Family Physical COORDINATING POLICY, PROCESS, AND PRACTICE Counseling, Social & FAMILIES
Community
Community
Services
Involvement
Services
Psychological
Psychological
Services
Services
HEALTHY SAFE
HEALTHY SAFE
CHALLENGED SUPPORTED ENGAGED
CHALLENGED SUPPORTED ENGAGED
Social &
Social &
Environment
Environment
Emotional
Emotional
Employee IMPROVING LEARNING AND HEALTH Health Climate Employee IMPROVING LEARNING AND HEALTH Health Climate
Wellness Education Wellness Education
Health Health
Services Services
COMMUNITY COMMUNITY
Playground Safety
Playground accidents account for roughly 50% of all student accidents at The School District of Palm Beach The ranking system was tested during 2011 and became an official part of the inspection process in 2012. The
County. Minimizing the cause of these accidents requires a focus on two areas. The first is ensuring playgrounds ranking system allowed the playground lead person to prioritize hazards that needed immediate attention
are maintained in accordance with national standards and manufacturer’s specifications. The second is properly compared to those that were a lower priority. The system also allows the scheduling of other repairs based
supervising students as they play on the playgrounds. Risk Management and Facility Services began a new on the availability of parts and manpower. In 2015 the ranking system was revised to reflect the descriptions
effort to maintain the playgrounds at our schools. Prior to 2010 the certified playground safety inspectors (CPSI) shown above. Over the last ten years the number of Category 1 and Category 2 hazards have continued to go
working for the Risk and Benefits Management Department would inspect District playgrounds annually to down. The reduction in both categories continues to be between 60% and 70%.
determine compliance with American Standards for Testing & Materials (ASTM) and Consumer Product Safety National statistics indicate the #1 and #2 causes of playground accidents are poorly maintained equipment
Commission (CPSC) requirements. The inspectors identified and documented hazards observed during these and supervision. To address this, Risk Management has developed two playground safety training videos.
inspections in the comments section of a District form. The forms were submitted to the Facility Services The first in the series deals with conducting monthly playground inspections and the second deals with
Department for review and action. Reports were translated into work orders and were then worked on by the improving playground supervision. As the maintenance has improved over the past ten years, the #1 cause
Grounds Department; however, there was no prioritization of work. Work was often done based on the volume
or numbers of work orders that needed to be completed vs. the severity of the hazard that needed to be fixed. of student accidents in the District during recent school years has been inadequate supervision. To address
this the District is mandating annual that all teachers take the online Playground Supervision course before
This effort in 2010 resulted in a changed approach to the way playgrounds were maintained. The first change the start of each school year.
was to assign a main point person in Facility Services to oversee playground maintenance. The next was to task
that person with assessing the physical condition of all district playgrounds. This was done by creating a simple Our playground safety program has received national recognition from industry leaders during the 2017-
point system so that the playgrounds could be graded based on the condition of surfacing and equipment. This 2018 school year. One of our Safety Technicians attended a Global Workshop on International Playground
was strictly a physical assessment and had little to do with nationally recognized safety standards (e.g. ASTM Standards in Toronto, Canada in the Fall of 2017. The same Safety Technician has become a Playground
or CPSC). Low scores resulted in a GOOD rating, slightly higher scores resulted in a FAIR rating and high scores Maintenance Technician (PMT) Instructor through the Eppley Institute at Indiana University for Parks and Public
resulted in a POOR ranking. Lands. As a result of these efforts, we are working with the University of Northern Iowa in conjunction with
During the inspections additional items were documented including but not limited to the playground the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) on a child injury study related to playgrounds. Through
manufacturer, date of installation, and the type of surfacing used. The positive results from this survey included these efforts the District has elevated its reputation as one of the premier school districts both nationally and
the following: internationally with regard to playground safety. In October 2018, Mr. Troy Wilkinson, Safety Specialist, was
asked to serve on the Advisory Board for NPPS. He will serve as a resource for NPPS and will collaborate with
‚ The District now had an accurate accounting of the types and locations of each playground at each school. school districts and other public and private entities. Their goal is to influence child and playground safety in
‚ Facility Services was able to prioritize purchasing and maintenance decisions based on assessment results. the home, public, early childhood, and schools. Mr. Wilkinson will advise and serve as support for NPPS staff
This included projects related to: as they advocate for injury prevention through a broad perspective of playground maintenance, materials,
¾ The entire replacement of aging playgrounds environmental factors, and safe user behavior.
¾ Replacement of parts, including decking, guardrails, & barriers
¾ Refurbishment, repair or replacement of playground surfacing materials FY20 Playground Safety Update
‚ The ability to procure manufacturer warrantied parts.
The 2019-2020 school year changed dramatically on Friday, March 13, 2020 when the District closed all school
As the inspections were done a playground work crew was assembled in Facility Services. This crew was tasked campuses due to COVID-19. While this had a profound impact on how the District was going to educate our
with fixing all playgrounds in the District based on a prioritized work order system that was created. The purpose students the playgrounds at the schools still needed to have their annual inspections. A few weeks after the
in having a dedicated work crew for playground repairs was to ensure that they were all fixed in accordance with closure Safety Techs were allowed to return to the campuses and finish the annual inspections that had not
manufacturer’s specifications and applicable safety standards. The second part of this project was to work with yet been completed.
Risk Management to improve the methods used to report findings in the annual safety inspection reports. The
previous system did not lend itself to prioritizing hazards. Collaboration between the two departments created As the District returns to brick and mortar teaching during FY21 (September 2020) a COVID-19 Playground
a priority ranking system. Plan will be instituted. Playgrounds will be closed for the first 60 calendar days after students return to their
The agreed upon hazard rankings were: school campuses. Playgrounds by design are social gathering sites for children and it will be difficult if not
impossible to social distance while using a playground. The closure period is in place to see how face-to-
face learning affects community spread of COVID-19. It will also be in place because custodians need to
concentrate on sanitation of indoor high touch areas vs. cleaning playground structures.

Once the 60 calendar day waiting period is over the District will assess the need for continued closure and may
open the playgrounds for use in FY21.

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