Some Interesting thing I noticed in San Diego at least in North county? (San Jose: school districts, contractor)

[citizensadvocate]

Here is something interesting I found out over the summer. I moved to North SD county a while ago, i noticed a big difference about fields behind schools compared to where i used to live. I remember when I lived in the Bay Area, at least in Fremont, Walnut Creek, Concord, and San Jose. The fields behind "public" schools most always become "community parks" on non school days/hours when the "closed campus" all visitor must sign in rule expires. The areas near the buildings may or may not be fenced after school but the recreational facilities outside maybe with the exception of the pool are open to the community as a park would be once school is out. Many parents take their kids to play there on the field and play grounds on weekends, holidays, and school breaks and particularly over the summer. Though in north county of San Diego I noticed all the school districts lock the fields/playgrounds up after school and during winter, spring, and summer breaks with high fences and post private property signs, ironic as are school districts in SD county privatized, I mean the charter schools may be privatized but regular schools?

[kettlepot]

Restricting after-hours access for high school fields is true in the City of San Diego as well.

What I've heard is that the fields are so intensively used by the schools, or hired out for other athletic purposes, that they have to guarantee some amount of recuperation time for the grass and for general maintenance and cleaning.

[eastcoastbias]

Three things at play (probably)...adding to the post above...


1. Liability- if something goes wrong everyone wants to blame everyone and anyone but themselves i.e. I tripped on the all weather track. 25 years ago it was don't be clumsy today its the schools fault for hiring the contractor that installed the track incorrectly (or that's what we think).
2. Maintenance- No secret - Schools aren't funded well, if you are using the field turf/track or equipment on the site heavily you create deferred maintenance projects that school can't handle and the public whines about throwing tax dollars at.
3. Priority. With very little room and multiple after school sports activities going on- the school use SHOULD and has to take precedence.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by eastcoastbias

Three things at play (probably)...adding to the post above...


1. Liability- if something goes wrong everyone wants to blame everyone and anyone but themselves i.e. I tripped on the all weather track. 25 years ago it was don't be clumsy today its the schools fault for hiring the contractor that installed the track incorrectly (or that's what we think).
2. Maintenance- No secret - Schools aren't funded well, if you are using the field turf/track or equipment on the site heavily you create deferred maintenance projects that school can't handle and the public whines about throwing tax dollars at.
3. Priority. With very little room and multiple after school sports activities going on- the school use SHOULD and has to take precedence.

Very good points. Life in SD and all of CA and the US, though more in CA and it isn't always for the better.

[citizensadvocate]

Though interestingly up in NorCal SF Bay Area including San Jose all the fields of "public schools" still become defacto community parks during weekends and school breaks. Parents often bring their children there to play and get some exercise. Of course after school sports take priority though they normally will set up and stage in the part of the field they will be using right when school is ending before the closed campus hours ends so they wont have to compete space with the public. Its not so different from a public sports park or swimming which allows community use off hours but reservations take priority.

By the way I have never seen a "public school" with private property signs ever before I moved to SD County. Nor completely block off access to all of the field for the entire summer. In places I lived before they may fence off the area next to the buildings but the field and recreation areas with the exception of the swimming pool, which requires staffing, are generally open when there are no scheduled events. So what makes SD schools so different in this regard compared to schools in San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere is still quite a mystery. I haven't encountered anything like this in all the places I lived in the past.

[NYSD1995]

Just depends on the school. some do keep the fields open, many don't. If the parents lobby the school then they will typically keep it open. I agree it's weird, as a kid I had a school with a huge field that the whole community used when school wasn't open.

[tstieber]

I grew up in Walnut Creek, and everyone used the high school tennis courts as free community courts on weekends. I don't recall fields being used after hours, but they weren't locked either. It would be nice for neighbors to enjoy school parks after hours.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Yes, Walnut Creek and other cities in CA do in fact have these 'shared use' agreements and think they are great. Although, I am not quite sure why other parts of the County here havent adopted it.

I can only speak for Lemon Grove, but the group I was involved with went through this exercise and had to get a JPA (joint powers agreement) between the City and school district to determine how this would be arranged and who would be responsible for what in legalese. As with many many things in Govt, it can be a long arduous process to have to go through, but that is another story.
Ultimately, use of the school's large park was opened on weekends for a specific duration.

This was one of the groups that helped facilitate the process and more on how 'shared use' works
Unlocking Possibilities | ChangeLab Solutions

[RosieSD]

Our East County k-8 school district makes parts of our school campuses available to the public during off hours. The classroom areas are not open, but track facilities, playgrounds, tennis courts, playing fields, and other areas are open for public use. Sports teams use the fields as well. You can even bring your dogs (and horses) on to the grounds (as long as you clean up after them). It's been this way for at least the last 30 years.

We do have caretakers who live on the campuses though (in trailers) who keep an eye on things.

But, we're a small district with only three schools (on two campuses). Maybe larger Districts find it more difficult and expensive to do this?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Some do around here but some have had to close with all the homeless issues. I've ran on a local HS track ever since we've live here.