Dallastown Elementary School needs to replace our playground equipment, specifically the one largest piece on the playground.  We cannot do this without support from local community members.  The current equipment has been on the playground for over 25 years. The paint is chipped, and the plastic is faded. The bridge is in constant need of repair, but the staff makes sure it is repaired, safe and usable by the children.  This playground is well loved, and well used, not just during school hours but also in the evenings and in the summer when school is closed.

For the past 2 years, or more, we have been trying to raise the $35K we need to replace this one piece of equipment. Currently we are sitting around $9-10K raised. We have solicited donations from families and businesses, held flower and sticker sales, and held a vendor event with vendor fees going to the playground. There are a few other things we have done as well, but they have yielded smaller donations than the ones mentioned. 

Over the 2 years we have done smaller updates to the playground like repainting the USA map and paw prints on the black top, and recently repainted the swings and installed the new swing seats/chains that we purchased from the calendar fundraiser in 2020. The paint and supplies were donated by local businesses, like Ace Hardware in Red Lion, East York Lowe's, and NAPA in Dallastown. 

Recently at a PTO meeting when discussing the playground, and our progress so far, Superintendent Dr Doll suggested bringing a proposal to the Building & Capital Projects Committee-of-the-Whole to see about getting support from the district to replace this one piece of equipment.  We would not be asking the district to fund the entire piece of playground equipment but proposed 2 different options to see if they would contribute to the cause. After some reviews of the proposal, it is being presented to the Finance Committee-of-the-Whole this Thursday Nov 10th at 6pm. This is next step in trying to get support from the district in replacing this.

 It has been stated by some administers that the proposal may be rejected because 2 other elementary schools have completely funded their new playgrounds in recent years. There are significant differences between Dallastown Elementary and these 2 other elementary schools. Our school is land locked in the Borough, that has max 200 students and a significant portion of our school is eligible for free or reduced lunch. The size and demographic of the schools are significantly different. 

We are asking for your support in bringing this ask to the school board.  We are planning to bring this petition and the signatures with us to the board meeting on Thursday. The district gets their money from the taxpayers, and the taxpayers should have a say in how it gets used.