As Houston Independent School District prepares to close a dozen campuses at the end of the school year, residents are raising alarms ... not just about closing the schools, but about losing some of their only green spaces.
Five of the 12 campuses slated for closure have Spark Parks, school playgrounds built through grants, donations and partnerships. The parks are designed not only for students, but for the entire surrounding community.
Once built, HISD is responsible for maintaining the parks. But if the schools shut down, neighbors are asking who will unlock the gates, mow the grass and fix a broken swing.
Ed Pettitt, vice president of the Greater Third Ward Super Neighborhood lives near several of the schools that will be closed. He says the closures disproportionately affect surrounding neighborhoods.
“Neighborhoods like Magnolia Park, Third Ward, East End, Second Ward, they are the ones bearing the brunt of this,” Pettitt said. “Many of these residents don’t have cars to get to another park.”
He points to Dodson Elementary School, which closed more than a decade ago, as a cautionary tale. Its Spark Park was one of the first ever built by the program, and it has since fallen into disarray.
“It’s been broken into, all of the park’s equipment was paid for with tax dollars, funding and donations has been stolen,” Pettitt said.
HISD did not directly answer questions about the parks’ futures, but did provide a written statement, saying the district plans to work with its partners to “thoughtfully plan for the future use of school facilities and surrounding spaces, including areas that serve as community parks.”
For Pettitt, that answer isn’t enough. The parks were built with community money, and in some neighborhoods, there are no other parks within walking distance.
Pettitt is urging residents to speak up before it’s too late by reaching out to the HISD school board, and city council members.
“These are the only parks that they can walk to within ten minutes, and so we need to keep these parks open,” he said.