Clay Schools Improving Celina K-8 Playground Accessibility

The Clay County Board of Education approved a plan to make the Celina K-8 playground more handicap accessible.

The improvements will consist of purchasing and implementing a ramp and playground tiles. Chairperson Benji Bailey said the playground already has handicap-designed swings but accessing the swings has been an issue.

“Those are in contained areas with rubber mulch,” Bailey said. “So to get the wheelchairs across to the swings is almost impossible, so we will be laying down the tiles and basically be giving them a pathway to roll the wheelchairs to the swings that they can use.”

Bailey said the cost for the improvements will be in the neighborhood of $20,000. Bailey said making the playground more handicap accessible is something the school system will continue to monitor in the future.

“We don’t want to leave anyone out,” Bailey said. “As time goes we have more and more children that do have disabilities and we want to address those concerns and give them an opportunity to be included in playground activities.”

Bailey said a good portion of the project has been done with constructing sidewalks. Bailey said a date has not been set for when the improvements will be completed.