While driving past Camarillo Heights Elementary School earlier this month, I had to make a sudden stop to avoid a young boy who was chasing a loose basketball. I leaned out the window and asked him why he and his friends didn't play in the adjacent schoolyard, where it would be safe, rather than in the street. “The schoolyard is locked up, mister,� was his reply.
Schoolyard locked! When did the convenience of the Pleasant Valley School District custodial staff become more important than the safety and well-being of children? It seems to me that schoolyards are community assets, paid for by citizens' tax dollars, and should be available for general recreational use outside normal school hours when not being used for scheduled school functions.
For generations, kids have grown up playing pick-up baseball, basketball and other games on the local schoolyard after school and on weekends, staying safely off the streets and out of trouble. Youth sports teams practice there. Families gather to use the swings, fly kites, shoot baskets, chip golf balls - generally enjoy outdoor activities together with little or no negative impact on the school facilities. An accessible schoolyard is particularly beneficial in a neighborhood such as that surrounding Camarillo Heights School, where no nearby public park exists.
I don't doubt that schoolyards left open after-hours are misused occasionally; this is, unfortunately, true of most public facilities these days. But a chained, padlocked, empty neighborhood schoolyard is a sad waste of a valuable piece of community property.
- Dale Osborn, Camarillo
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