Should

responsibility for purchasing and maintaining

school playground equipment be assumed by the

Fayette County Board of Education?

Should

the board also assume liability for injuries

incurred on school playgrounds?

Those

were the questions put before the board Monday

night by Virgil and Carolyn Fludd, parents of

children attending North Fayette Elementary

School. Concerned about the safety of aging play

structures at their school and others in the

district, the Fludds engaged Harold Vernon, a

consultant from Starling Recreation Products, to

assess the playground at North Fayette. He cited

17 safety code violations in the 18-year old

equipment.

"I

was horrified," Carolyn Fludd said upon

receiving Vernon's report. She illustrated the

consultant's findings with pictures of cracks,

open `S' rings and sharp edges, close grouping of

the equipment and one of the "most serious

liabilities," rubber tires buried halfway in

the ground.

Attempting

to soften children's falls, Fludd said the Parent

Teachers Association spent about $3,000 on mulch

to substantially increase the "fall zone

surfacing" from the initial three inches to

the recommended six to 12 inches. Rain pouring

from a broken drain pipe washed most of it away,

she said.

"We

can't catch up; it goes on year after year,"

Fludd said, adding that it's difficult for a

parent group that changes officers every year to

handle the escalating needs of school play

facilities. The Fludds asked the board to

"develop a policy that takes responsibility

away from the parents," and create a

"single purchasing arm to buy equipment for

all the schools."

They

also said inequities exist among the schools'

play facilities. Peeples Elementary was funded at

the time of construction for a $26,000

playground, while other schools like Braelinn

Elementary have sought funding from the Peachtree

City Council, said the Fludds. North Fayette and

other older, established schools are dealing with

old equipment.

The

Fludds estimated a cost of about $25,000 to

$30,000 for a new playground. "Play is one

of the most complete educational processes of the

mind," Virgil Fludd said. He equated

elementary school playgrounds to middle and high

school playing fields. "Play is essential to

learning," he said.

"I

can't sit here and promise you $30,000 right

now," said Debbie Condon, school board

chairman, "but I can ask Mr. (Fred) Oliver

and Dr. (John) DeCotis to look into it."

The

question of PTO funding and liability was brought

up again by Cindy Carson, outgoing president of

J.C. Booth Middle School PTO, who asked the board

to look into its current policies on paying for

school clinic workers and providing for employee

benefits. While the proposed budget earmarks

$5,000 for elementary school clinic workers, it

does not cover the middle and high schools.

Carson

said the role of the middle school clinic worker

has grown in responsibility over the years.

"There are lots of prescription drugs

dispensed in our schools. The clinic worker has

assumed a more important position," she

said.

Carson

said in one month at J.C. Booth, the clinic

worker dispensed 373 prescription drugs, placed

272 phone calls and dealt with 373 sick students.

She said 25 percent of the PTO budget goes to

funding the clinic. "As parents, should this

be our priority? Should benefits be funded by the

PTO?" Carson asked the board.

DeCotis

admitted there was confusion over who pays for

what in the clinics this past year. "We're

going to look at it point by point," he

said. Board member Woody Shelnutt said he would

like to see the middle and high schools get

$5,000 for their clinics as well.

In

other business, the board:

� Named Anthony W. Smith

assistant principal at Starr's Mill High School.

He comes to Starr's Mill from Morrow Middle

School in Morrow where he was a computer

technology teacher.

� Approved the lease/purchase

of 23 new school buses.

� Agreed to sell 17 old buses

to the highest bidder. Money made from the sale

will be used to buy surveillance cameras ($750)

for school buses not already equipped. Currently,

95 buses in the district's fleet of 152 have

cameras.

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