4J superintendent acknowledges communication failure on playground removal

After Eugene School District 4J faced public outcry following the removal of a playground next to Westmoreland Park, superintendent Miriam Mickelson said she recognized there was an absence of community engagement around the decision.

“I acknowledge that communication with our community and staff was lacking in this instance, and moving forward we are committed to improving our communication protocols to ensure greater transparency with our families and the community,” Mickelson said at the Wednesday, Aug. 6, school board meeting.

Jeff Mack, a parent of two children who used the playground, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. He shared how his kids learned to crawl, climb, run and jump on the playground. Mack said as a parent of young children during the pandemic, the playground and others like it were “a lifeline.”

“I completely understand the feeling of loss there,” said Tom Di Liberto, the new chair of the 4J School Board, after the meeting.

Construction workers leveled the playground behind the Arts and Technology Academy middle school in late July, to the surprise of parents and children who frequented the play structure.

According to Mickelson and 4J spokesperson Kelly McIver, 4J director of facilities Ryan Spain, former interim superintendent Colt Gill and the district leadership team decided in the spring to remove the playground because the district was no longer able to maintain it. 

The playground had safety and accessibility issues, which would have cost the district an estimated $225,000 to address. Leaders at 4J cut a net $15.8 million from last year’s budget and are anticipating even greater cuts next year. The district spent $37,250 to remove the ATA playground.

Another factor in deciding to remove the playground was that the Family School, once co-located on the property with the middle school, has since moved. According to the current 4J facilities plan, the district no longer maintains middle school playgrounds unless they’re co-located with elementary programs, and it removes them when they reach the end of their useful lives. Middle school programming doesn’t include playground use, McIver said in an email.

The district did not bring the decision to the school board because it did not fall within the board’s purview.

“This is an operational decision overseen by the superintendent and the superintendent’s delegated staff, and not a matter that would come before the Board of Directors,” McIver wrote in an email.

Di Liberto, the board chair, agreed that the board’s role is to make decisions on broader school policy and the budget, not operational decisions. He said the board did not know about the removal and is gathering information about the progression of events and condition of the equipment.

Clarification: This story has been updated to include the fact that the district’s leadership team was also involved in the decision to remove the playground.