LETTER: Elementary schools should install fences at playgrounds 

To Ozaukee Press:

As the Port Washington-Saukville School District plans a brand-new Saukville Elementary School and upgrades elementary playgrounds at Lincoln and Dunwiddie schools, it’s time to carefully consider safety, accessibility and secure playground boundaries.

As a parent and a husband of an educator, I know how hard school staff work to keep our kids safe. Fencing would never replace attentive supervision, but does provide another layer of protection for students who may wander or move faster than an adult. Fencing can help protect students from traffic, nearby hazards and outside threats. Even the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends considering it when young children may wander toward potential dangers.

I sincerely hope district administrators see the value in creating a committee of parents, educators and support staff (all of whom are the experts, in my opinion) to provide input as designs are created. If the district decides against fencing, families deserve an answer to the question: What safety analysis determined that playground fencing was unnecessary, both for students known to leave assigned areas and as an added safeguard against outside threats that are, unfortunately, more prevalent in today’s educational settings?

This should not be a debate about whether we like fences. It should be

a thoughtful decision regarding a safety risk, and whether every reasonable safeguard has been considered.

Neil Friedenberg

Port Washington