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Most students at Maine School Administrative District 6 who started the year without playground equipment will soon be able to climb, slide and swing during recess once again.

Playgrounds at five of six elementary schools in the district, which includes Standish, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Frye Island, were removed over the summer after an inspection in the spring found “significant safety concerns,” such as exposed rust and nails.

Facilities staff will start installing new playgrounds next week and finish by early November, said Superintendent Brian Campbell. The school board allocated $250,000 of capital reserves to fund the equipment in August.

Campbell said the new equipment, purchased from the Massachusetts-based vendor O’Brien & Sons, closely resembles the previous structures. One added feature is that individual components can be disassembled and replaced when they are worn out so that entire playground removals won’t be necessary in the future, he said.

A rendering of the new playground that will be installed at Steep Falls Elementary School after the previous playground was removed due to safety concerns. (Courtesy of O’Brien & Sons)

“We do need to provide good playground equipment so that (kids) can have some fun and get that energy out of them,” Buxton resident Linda Fuller told the school board in August.

Campbell said teachers have found other ways to keep students active with games of four square and large walking groups. He said teachers incentivize students to walk more miles around school buildings with them for raffle tickets for prizes.

Amanda Martin is leading a committee of parents, school board members and staff looking at funding additional equipment that is accessible for children with disabilities.

Martin said she is now homeschooling her kindergartener, who has autism and requires access to a playground to remain calm. She said staff told her the only other option would have been for her daughter to attend Buxton Center Elementary School, which is farther from where she lives in Standish but still has a playground.

“These playgrounds are more than just from bell to bell. They’re actually a shared public resource, and people are using them at all ages and all abilities,” Martin said at the Oct. 5 school board meeting. “Movement is critical to building brains and neurons.”

Martin is working to find pieces of equipment from the vendor building the new playgrounds and fundraising from sponsors. She said game panels, ramps, and a wheelchair-friendly swing are possible amenities, and estimated the total cost of the equipment will come to $50,000-$80,000.

Poland Spring, a Maine-based bottled water company, has expressed interest in sponsoring the additional safety features. It is waiting for proposals on specific pieces of equipment before committing a set amount of money, a company spokesperson said.

A rendering of the new playground that will be installed at Edna Libby Elementary School in Standish after the previous playground was removed due to safety concerns. (Courtesy of O’Brien & Sons)

Martin also said she is looking into the American Academy of Dermatology’s Shade Structure Grant Program, which gives grants of up to $8,000 to public schools and nonprofit organizations for installing permanent shade structures.

Campbell said any equipment brought forward would need to be inspected by facilities staff to make it sure is up to code before installing it.

“As the new playgrounds are going in, I’m asking the board to ensure that inclusion is part of the design from the beginning,” said Adrienne Paul, owner of Pollywogs to Speckled Frogs Childcare and Preschool in Standish and the Republican candidate for Maine House District 85, at the Oct. 5 school board meeting. “Children need meaningful opportunities to play alongside their peers.”