After a long wait, a timeline for the replacement of the blacktop space at Kennedy School has been established. —Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Harry Kane

For the past five years, students and parents at the John F. Kennedy School (PK-8) have eagerly awaited a new schoolyard to replace the blacktop space. At the City Council meeting on November 14, Ward 5 City Councilor Naima Sait requested that the Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management provide an update on the redesign plan for the playground at the Kennedy School.

The Kennedy School was awarded a grant through the Community Preservation Act in December of 2019. The project is listed as currently underway, according to the FY25 Community Preservation Plan report, explained Councilor Sait.

“This project matters to families across the city,” said Kat Johnston, a PK-12 education consultant and mother of a third-grader who attends the Kennedy School. Johnston addressed the City Council last Thursday evening regarding the lack of progress with the schoolyard project.

The goal is to transform the blacktop schoolyard that now has basketball hoops into a park-like green space that infuses outdoor learning and ecological design features to prioritize children’s well-being and play.

While the pandemic delayed the start of the project, she said, there have been no updates since last year about the schoolyard. Johnston is asking for a timeline and regular monthly updates.

“The community was told last year that we were back on track. We’ve had no update since then,” Johnston said. “A landscape firm doesn’t seem to have been hired and we haven’t found an open or closed RFQ on the city’s procurement site.”

The Kennedy School, located at 5 Cherry St., has an enclosed blacktop area, referred to as the “front lot” for playspace during recess, she explained, where 282 students in grades 3-8 can exercise each day.

In addition, she said, the school houses three district-wide programs for special education. “There’s currently nothing for differently-abled students to use at the school, except for one swing,” said Johnston. “These students deserve a universally accessible playspace.”

Since the application was submitted in September of 2018, 318 students have graduated with no progress in the project, Johnston added. The Kennedy School is now the only school without access to a field or green space

“It’s worth the fight,” said Jake Wilson, City Councilor-At-Large. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m here to fight with you for it. It makes such a difference for a school community!”

Councilor Wilson said that prior to being a City Councilor, he led a Parent Group in a long, protracted fight for a schoolyard at the Arthur D. Healey School. He says a new schoolyard will make a big difference, and it will be much better than the current blacktop space for recess.

Luisa Oliveira, Director of Public Space and Urban Forestry, said in a written statement: “The Kennedy Schoolyard project has not yet started but will begin this winter.”