School-parks partnership improves quality of life
When a school district and city parks department team up to provide services for children and families, the entire community benefits, said Peggy Riggs, associate superintendent of the Springfield, Mo., school district.
Riggs described this innovative project at a Saturday morning session along with board president Kris Callen, board member Bruce Renner, and Jodie Adams, director of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.
The project got underway in 2001 when the voters of Greene County passed a quarter-of-a-cent sales tax increase to raise money for parks development and operations.
That generated more than $3.5 million over the past five years, Riggs said. About $2 million was spent to develop and make improvements at 10 sites. The rest was spent on operations, including programming and maintenance.
The sales tax was supplemented by minimal fees and charges to program participants, although the fees were waived for lower-income families.
In addition, school and park administrators have received more than $2 million in federal, state, and local grants for school-park programming and equipment.
From the beginning, the Springfield school board played an active role in creating the partnership—and remains actively involved in the program’s policies and procedures to ensure that the partnership supports the board’s goals.
As the program has expanded throughout the county, the partnership has sought input from students, as well as local residents, to ensure that the parks meet the specific needs of their neighborhoods.
“This process is now part of the culture of the discussion when new schools are being designed or when major school renovations are being planned,” Riggs said. “The success of this partnership has been documented by increased student achievement, parent involvement, and community support of schools.”
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