HOWARD — East Knox Elementary School will break ground for a new playground this summer.
Superintendent Richard Baird presented the plans at a Board of Education meeting last week.
“The playground itself is undersized … it’s something that every kid uses every day at our elementary school, and we want them out there using it,” he said.
The district will work with GameTime, a playground equipment supplier, to install and maintain the project. New playground activities will include wind chimes, a merry-go-round, swings and a six-piece obstacle course.
Renovations will ensure that weather and type of equipment won’t be a barrier during the students play, according to Baird. Plans are in place to install a catch basin to prevent flooding or the playground from becoming too muddy.
A surface-level, wheelchair accessible path will also be installed between the playground and current basketball court.
Bulldog purple (and green) will be the primary color(s) of the equipment.
East Knox students will be unable to use the playground for around the first nine weeks of school, however there is no official completion date. The equipment will arrive around Sept. 1 and GameTime hopes to have the installation done within a month.
Once completed, the playground will benefit the students, according to Baird.
“They get to play together, they got to socialize, they will all have access to the equipment … they’ll be able to play games. It’s a very positive thing to be doing,” Baird said.
The proposed price of the project totals $514,419.16. The motion to approve the Elementary Playground Project passed 5-0.
(Below are rendered images of the future playground, provided by East Knox Board of Education.)
During the meeting, the board also approved the following items:
- The creation of an archery club for the 2026-27 school year, led by Kevin Bullock.
- The adoption of the Raptor Emergency Management Suite, which includes an improved alert system and communication for staff during emergencies, a streamlined reunification process and a centralized system to plan drills. The annual access license and one-time implementation fee and training was approved for $7,615.
