In Knox County's 50 public elementary schools, not every child has equal access to a quality playground. It's a consequence of the decision past district leaders made and stuck with for nearly three decades.
New district leaders and school board members made strides in fixing playgrounds in disrepair, and now a nonprofit has committed to making sure every elementary school has a playground that is fully functional and brings joy to all 27,000 students in those grades.
The nonprofit Knox Education Foundation launched a Playspace Fund to address inconsistencies in playground quality. Knox County Schools for decades left it up to neighbors to pay for new and replacement playground equipment.
The district identified 11 schools as "in most significant need for repairs," and paid for repairs at one of them: Beaumont Magnet Academy. The new Playspace Fund has replaced and built playgrounds at seven others. The need remains at Adrian Burnett Elementary, Farragut Intermediate and West View Elementary schools.
The foundation and its partners opened a new playground at Belle Morris Elementary School on Aug. 22 and will celebrate six more new playgrounds soon.
Belle Morris Elementary principal David Guyer said the previous playground was "so old" that when things broke, school leaders couldn't find replacement parts.
Students got bored with only having green space for recess, but now they'll play on slides, swings and climbing towers.
"What gets kids excited about coming to school is stuff like this, and then we trick them into learning how to read and write," Guyer said.
The Belle Morris community in northeast Knoxville had been trying to raise money for the playground for a decade and was able to collect about $20,000, said Mike Taylor, Knox Education Foundation's CEO.
The cost of a new playground is closer to $160,000, he said.
"They're not cheap but they have huge value," Taylor said. "We're still needing the community's help to reach the goal."
The schools with new playgrounds, paid for by the foundation's Playspace Fund and its partners, are:
- Belle Morris Elementary
- Fountain City Elementary
- Fair Garden Early Learning Center
- Knoxville Adaptive Education Center
- Sarah Moore Greene Elementary
- Spring Hill Elementary
- West Haven Elementary
How to help with the initiative?
Donors to the Playspace Fund include the Boyd Foundation, Knox County Schools, Knox County, community organizations and individuals.
The county and school district both donated more than $100,000 to the initiative.
The Playspace Fund seeks to raise $4.5 million and the foundation has raised $2.2 million already.
"Even $5 makes a difference in helping us get to that next goal," Taylor said.
Gifts can be made at knoxed.org .
What's next?
The foundation, in partnership with Knox County Schools, is identifying additional schools eligible for repairs in the second round of the Playspace Fund initiative. That work is expected to be completed in the next 30-60 days, Taylor said.
Knox County Commissioner Larsen Jay, a Knox Education Foundation board member, has long advocated for better school playgrounds paid for with tax dollars. Seeing the project come to life has been exhilarating, he said.
"My goal with the Playspace Fund is that every Knox County School has a great playground that we can all be proud of and ... community doesn't have to be extra burdened for and kids don't have to sell pizzas and car washes," Jay said.
"They should just have a place to play. It's just pure joy."
Belle Morris has 390 students and about 20% come from economically disadvantaged families.
Areena Arora , data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com . Follow her on X @ AreenaArora and on Instagram @areena_news .
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools with playgrounds in disrepair get a big boost from Knox Education Foundation
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