This petition is a call to demand City Hall immediately release a plan (guidelines and an expedited timeline) for the swift reopening of San Francisco’s public playgrounds.

On September 10, a new schedule was released for the reopening of San Francisco’s spaces, including outdoor family entertainment, yet our playgrounds were once again excluded. A plan for the safe reopening of playgrounds has never been released, and the City’s website states playground re-openings are still TBD. This is unacceptable. 

While the City’s Health Order claims to be guided by “science, data, and facts” there is currently no data indicating an increased threat of SARS-CoV-2 transmission due to using outdoor play structures, nor have there been any outbreaks traced back to the use of playgrounds nationally. Playground reopening MUST be a priority for the city government - as it is for thousands of parents and guardians who live here in San Francisco. Parents and guardians need to be given back the decision of what is safe for their own children in regards to outdoor play. 

As the city creates policies regarding reopening, it is crucial that we consider equity. Some San Francisco families have the luxury of paying for camps, ‘kids clubs’, and private schools which can provide children with access to physical play on safe, child-appropriate play structures. Many San Francisco families do not have this luxury. Public playgrounds provide an opportunity for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds to play, to learn to take turns, to be physically active, to make friends, and to feel connected to their community. Climbing, sliding, swinging, running, playing - this is the work of childhood, and our children have been deprived for six months. Many San Franciscans neither have access to quality outdoor activities aside from their local playground, nor do they have the ability to travel across the city to reach an outdoor space. Lack of access to age-appropriate play opportunities is negatively affecting our children right now and may also have a long-term impact on their development. It is imperative that our government officials take this into consideration when forming policy.  

We believe the benefits significantly outweigh the minimal potential risks of reopening playgrounds, and that parents should be able to decide what is right for their families.

Playgrounds in New York have been open since June.  If NYC, a city with much higher population density than SF and hardest hit by this pandemic, can reopen their playgrounds, then San Francisco can too.

There are many suggested guidelines for safely reopening playgrounds which have already been developed and can be used to develop and inform San Francisco’s own plan. These guidelines do not require huge expenditures to maintain playgrounds, so cost should not be an impediment to reopening.

We know we can all work together to keep our public spaces safe as they reopen -- so let’s give our children back their playspaces.