23 Spring ISD playgrounds to be revamped

Playgrounds at 23 Spring ISD elementary schools will receive upgrades beginning this fall totaling $2.2 million, district leaders said in a June 12 email.

What to expect

SISD’s playground renovations will be funded by interest income from the district’s $850 million bond—which was approved by voters in November 2022—Chief of District Operations Mark Miranda said. Bond interest income is generated when bonds, which are sold to fund large facility projects, are held in interest-bearing accounts while waiting to be spent, according to a May 22 SISD news release.

“Our students deserve the very best, and these new playgrounds are a testament to our community’s investment in their well-being,” Miranda said in the news release. “Play is an essential part of a child’s development, and these new facilities will provide safe and inclusive spaces for all our students to enjoy.”

In the email, Miranda said elementary schools with playgrounds slated for a makeover are:

• Anderson
• Beneke
• Booker
• Burchett
• Clark
• Cooper
• Eickeroht
• Heritage
• Hirsch
• Hoyland
• Jenkins
• Lewis
• Link
• Major
• Marshal
• McNabb
• Meyer
• Northgate
• Ponderosa
• Reynolds
• Salyers
• Smith
• Thompson

A sneak peek

Burchett Elementary School was the first to receive playground renovations, which cost $158,998 and were completed in October, Miranda said. The playground upgrades include:

• A new kindergarten-fifth grade playscape with a custom turf launch pad
• A new pre-K playscape with a turf launch pad

“The playground is amazing, and the kids love it,” Sonny Tomlin, a first-grade teacher at Burchett, said in the news release. “We have shade and the kids can play, and it’s not near as hot.”