The Horace Mann Parent Teachers Association has spearheaded an effort to improve the school’s playground, which lacks shade. (photo by Joey Waldinger)

With little shade and lots of concrete, the Horace Mann Elementary School playground is sometimes called the “prison yard,” Horace Mann Parent Teachers Association co-president Melissa Wolf said.

There are only two trees and not one blade of grass, Wolf said during the March 28 Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education meeting. The playground is largely devoid of art, and students can only find shade at the picnic tables where they eat, she added.

“The playground is unattractive, uncomfortably hot and completely out of place with our beautiful and historic school buildings,” Wolf said. “Our playground is not Wolf’s comments came before a discussion about a plan to improve the playground.

After the PTA voted last August to spend approximately $200,000 to beautify the playground, the district has drafted tentative plans for improving the space, including installing shade structures over play areas and in the student drop-off courtyard, planting five new trees, adding synthetic grass and building an outdoor classroom.

The cost for the project is approximately $691,800, and the PTA funding will only cover a small portion of the improvements. According to the proposal, the PTA will directly fund the shade structures for the drop-off courtyard and play areas, which have an estimated $157,000 price tag.

Building the outdoor classroom would cost approximately $245,000, making it the most expensive suggested improvement. Construction would be funded by developer fees collected by the city, but the district would have to apply for those funds, and they are heavily restricted, BHUSD board president Noah Margo said.

Other possible funding sources include modernization grants and the district’s maintenance and operations budget, Margo said.

He added that the discussion on March 28 was intended to give general direction to district staff about what would be desirable and feasible, and they will return at a later date with a more detailed breakdown of the proposed improvements.

“[The] conversation was more related to, ‘Do you guys think this is a good idea?’ and the board agreed that getting more shade is definitely important. We just have to keep budget in mind,” Margo said.