by Theresa Garee

Five of six Groveport Madison elementary schools received new playground equipment this past month.

“Groveport Madison Schools is excited to announce that new playground equipment has been installed at Dunloe, Asbury, Madison, Sedalia, and Groveport elementary schools. These improvements are part of our ongoing commitment to providing safe, fun, and engaging spaces for our students to play and grow,” the District posted on its website.

There is confusion among residents as to why Glendening Elementary was not included in the upgrades.

A video sharing the playground upgrades is posted on the district’s Facebook page. Where resident Angelia Reed first asked, “Why not for Glendening? A good portion of their equipment is broken.”

The social media correspondent for the school district replied that Glendening equipment “was deemed satisfactory at the time of the assessments and the ordering of the new structures…” However, they did relay to maintenance that there is a report of broken equipment.

“A lot of the ‘grips’ on the equipment are off or worn down. The main slide has had a hole in it since at least the beginning of last school year. The smaller playground in the front is used for the special education program and isn’t even set up for that,” Groveport resident Angelia Reed said.

“After a thorough inspection of Glendening Elementary’s playground, it was determined that the equipment did not require the same level of updates as some of our other elementary schools. The inspection did identify a few parts that need to be replaced. Those items have been ordered, and they will be installed as soon as they arrive,” said Director of Communications for Groveport Madison Ty Debevoise.