Williamsburg playground getting new look

Some county children may be looking forward to going to school a little bit more.

The West Franklin USD 287 Board of Education approved the installation of playground equipment at Williamsburg Elementary School by Little Tykes for $19,950.

The equipment is the first phase of replacing the old playground equipment that was removed last spring. The first phase is equipment for younger children in pre-kindergarten to first grade. It includes a couple of slides and is wheelchair-accessible, Susan Wildeman, principal, said.

The money for the equipment has come from PTO fundraisers and donations. The drive for new playground equipment began last fall, Wildeman said.

“The community has been really supportive,” she said.

The school also had received a $4,256 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Waste Management in July for a new rubber surface for the playground.

The board also accepted a $10,240 grant from East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corp., or ECKAN, for a 12-foot-by-12-foot shade structure and rubber mulch, which is made from recycled rubber, at the West Franklin Head Start.

The grant ECKAN received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Families and Children, also will allow the same structure to be built at Ottawa Head Start, a press release read.

“This will greatly improve the safety of our playground areas,” Richard Jackson, ECKAN chief executive officer, said.