WHEREAS    playground equipment is a valuable tool for developing school age children’s physical strength and co-ordination, social skills such as sharing, teamwork and competition and mentally preparing them for class room teachings, and

WHEREAS    playground equipment located on school property benefits not only the students of that school but the surrounding community as well, and

WHEREAS    from time to time playground equipment, even when properly maintained, due to age, normal wear and tear, changes to CSA standards or vandalism may be deemed by the PSB to be unsafe or unfit for use and be removed or ordered to be removed from site, and

WHEREAS    PSB operational procedure 202.1, subsections 4.4 and 4.5 states:

“4.4     A school, Home and School Association or other school affiliate will be fully responsible for all costs related to site preparation, purchasing and installing playground equipment and protective surfaces, to CSA standards;

4.5       The Public Schools Branch will assume ownership, upon final inspection, of the playground equipment that has met CSA and Public Schools Branch standards and will take responsibility for all ongoing costs related to inspection, maintenance, warranty and insurance related concerns.”, and

WHEREAS    schools and Home and School Associations have very limited means to fund replacing removed playground equipment, and

WHEREAS    the PSB owns, inspects, maintains, warrants and insures playground equipment purchased by schools and Home and School Associations, as per PSB operational procedure 202.1, the PSB should share with schools and Home and School Associations some of the responsibility for replacing removed playground equipment.

BE IT RESOLVED that the PEI Home and School Federation request that the Minister of Education to provide base funding in the lesser amount of 50% or $50,000 for the costs related to site preparation, purchasing and installing suitable replacement playground equipment and protective surfaces, to CSA standards, in the event where the PSB has removed or ordered to be removed playground equipment.