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School district to pursue Woodbury playground grant

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS – Woodbury Elementary students enjoy the school’s current playground set Monday afternoon. The school board discussed pursuing a grant to pay for changes to the building’s playground area at the school board meeting Monday evening.

The neighborhood around Woodbury Elementary School in northeastern Marshalltown was one of the worst hit in the July 19 tornado. With that in mind, Marshalltown Schools officials are looking to make an addition to the Woodbury playground area through the national Kaboom! Playground Community Build Grant.

“Essentially, it results in about $50,000 worth of equipment being installed,” said Superintendent Theron Schutte. “We do feel like this would be worthy, on behalf of not only the school but the neighborhood, to go ahead and pursue.”

A committee made up of Woodbury Principal Anel Garza, district buildings and grounds director Chuck Springer and two school parents has been formed to plan for the possible new equipment.

Schutte said there are two basic options being looked at in the event that the district is one of the six grant recipients nationwide.

“One would be an extension of the existing preschool and elementary playground,” he said. “There’s also a fenced-in area that Anel (Garza) and her staff have wanted to use for swings which aren’t, but could become, a part of this.”

Wherever a new playground addition would be built, it would be the second such project at the school in recent years. The current student playground was updated in 2017.

“Does the grant cover all costs? Will we have district costs?” board member Ross Harris said.

Schutte said one possible cost to the district could be putting in a hard rubber surfacing beneath the new equipment.

“If we were awarded this, what the grant provides for is more of a mulch surfacing, but our practice has been to put a hard rubber surfacing,” he said.

While the school board took no formal action on applying for the grant or approving a grant contract Monday, the five present members gave Schutte their blessing to go forward with pursuing the grant.

If the district is named one of the six grant recipients, the board will have to approve the contract and accept the grant.

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Contact Adam Sodders at

641-753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com

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