The teeter-totters and jungle gyms most adults remember rushing to play on during school recesses have been banned by the Granite School District, along with other playground equipment now considered unsafe.
But district officials said the potentially dangerous equipment won't have to be removed until money can be raised by parents to buy safer playground pieces as replacements."It's kind of hard to say to a school that they have to remove something when they have nothing to replace it with," said Carl Christiansen, district associate director of property management, energy and safety.
In recent years, schools have turned to PTAs for funds to purchase most playground equipment that can cost as much as $20,000, while the school district is responsible for its installation and maintenance.
The Granite School Board recently approved spending almost $73,000 to install new equipment and resurface playgrounds at five elementary schools: Hillsdale, Monroe, Plymouth, Western Hills and Whittier.
A 2-foot concrete wall will be installed around each school's playground and filled with 1 foot of washed pea gravel to help cushion falls from equipment.
Similar projects have been completed at six other Granite District elementary schools: Arcadia, Woodstock, Philo T. Farnsworth, Jackling, Oakridge and Pioneer.
While many of the worst problems with worn playground surfaces and aging equipment have been at those 11 schools, Christiansen said there are problems at many of the dozens of other elementary schools in the district.
To help schools make improvements as money becomes available, the school board has adopted a set of elementary playground safety guidelines based on national standards.
It's those standards that dictated the end of teeter-totters, jungle gyms and other familiar pieces of playground equipment, Christiansen said. But haven't children played on them for years without incident?
"I've wondered the same thing," he said. "But when they (consumer product safety organizations) put a stamp that says it's unapproved, we have a hard time arguing with them."
Teeter-totters do cause trouble when the child on the ground jumps off and the child in the air is slammed down, Christiansen said. And children can bang their heads if they fall down the middle of a jungle gym.
He couldn't name a school that still has a teeter-totter and although many still have jungle gyms, today's most popular item is a multiple-use piece that includes swings, slides and bars.
Besides listing the playground equipment that can no longer be installed, the guidelines drafted by district officials spell out what constitutes a safe piece of equipment.
Many of the design requirements are obvious. For example, equipment can not have any sharp edges or protrusions that could cut children or snag their clothing.
Other requirements are more reflective of the times. Today's playground equipment must have "vandal-proof" connectors that cannot be unfastened without special tools.
And the cost of maintaining playground equipment is also given serious consideration these days. Anything that could splinter or rust is out. So are giant tires, which become shiny and slippery with wear.