Playing Smart changelabsolutions.org | kaboom.org 8 and economical use of public resources. Although this toolkit focuses on school recreational facilities, joint use agreements can be used to maximize other community assets, such as libraries, theaters, and community gardens. When the school day ends, school facilities are often closed to community residents who might otherwise use them. Understandably, school districts lock their facilities because they lack the capacity and funds to run programs, and they may have concerns about additional legal or maintenance costs that might arise from the use of school property outside regular school hours. At the same time, communities across the country are expressing a growing desire for safe, accessible, and affordable places for activity – and some are demanding access to what are, in fact, public resources. As a formal legal document, a joint use agreement can facilitate community access to school facilities and grounds. What Is a Joint Use Agreement? A joint use agreement refers to a written agreement between a school district and one or more public or private (nonprofit) entities, allowing public access to school property and detailing the shared responsibility for maintaining the facilities. Implicit in the agreement is that public, and in some cases private, resources will be pooled to expand community access and use public space more efficiently. Joint use agreements can be written for various types of facilities; this toolkit focuses solely on indoor and outdoor school recreational facilities, such as gymnasiums and playgrounds. These agreements can range from informal or “open” public use to organized after-school and weekend athletic activities for adults and youth. challenge for children living in lower-income neighborhoods. One study in Boston found that playgrounds in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and higher percentages of African-Americans were less safe than those in other neighborhoods, not only with regard to having well-designed and maintained equipment but also with regard to security from crime.12 The safety concern is borne out in obesity statistics: one recent study found that children whose parents perceived their neighborhoods as especially unsafe were four times as likely to be obese as children living in neighborhoods perceived as safe.13 Safe playgrounds offer children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods the potential for physical activity. Playgrounds are sites of high physical activity in a diverse range of neighborhoods.14 In rural areas, playgrounds attract children more than nearby fields do.15 In inner-city neighborhoods, safe playgrounds increase the number of children engaging in physical activity. One intervention in an impoverished urban neighborhood in New Orleans showed that keeping a schoolyard with a play structure open after school hours and providing adult supervision increased the number of children who remained outside and active after school by 84 percent.16 The Promise of Joint Use Agreements In recent years, increasing access to existing recreational facilities at schools has emerged as one of the most promising strategies for building more opportunities for activity. This promise is rooted in the realization that even the most poorly designed and underserved neighborhoods include schools. In an era of budget shortfalls, maximizing access to existing facilities – rather than trying to construct new ones – is the most efficient
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