Out of the nation’s largest 100 cities, Los Angeles ranks 93rd in terms of park space. Too many families, particularly in lower-income communities, live without a safe playground or outdoor space within walking distance of their homes.
At the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), we have been trying to be part of the solution with our Community School Park program. But we need the city to step up.
Through a partnership we formalized with the city last year, LAUSD campuses can open as neighborhood parks on the weekends, giving kids a place to play, families a place to gather, and communities much-needed access to playgrounds, fields, basketball courts, and open spaces. LAUSD provides the facilities for free (and shares the liability), while the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks provides supervision and maintenance during public hours as if it were a public park. It’s one of those rare public policy ideas that is both incredibly simple and incredibly effective.
For all its obvious benefits, the city is not capitalizing on the potential of this opportunity and is leaving far too many schools closed on the weekends. Part of that is because the city’s cost to run one of these community school parks is nearly ten times what it would cost if the district operated them. Taxpayers and community members would benefit if the city paid the district to run the parks rather than doing it themselves.
Voters will be asked this November to consider Charter Amendment PRK, which would significantly increase the minimum funding allocated to the Department of Recreation and Parks in the city’s budget. I support investing in our parks. Los Angeles desperately needs more green and recreational space, and much of our existing infrastructure needs substantial investment. But any serious conversation about expanding park access should include the Community School Parks program, which is the easiest and by far the cheapest way to achieve this goal.
The cost difference is staggering. Consider Caballero Creek Park in Tarzana, which is slated to open this summer after its initial announcement in 2018. The project itself has an estimated budget of $5.5 million, before getting into ongoing maintenance and operation costs.
Around the corner, Newcastle Elementary School could be open for as little as $195 per day for basic supervision and maintenance. At that rate, the $5.5 million price tag for building one new park could open more than 270 school campuses every weekend for an entire year—without putting a single shovel in the ground.
This is not an argument against building new parks. We should build them. Caballero Creek Park is one of the first innovative “self-sustaining” park models, and a welcome addition to the Tarzana community. Los Angeles certainly needs more permanent green and recreational space.
But when public dollars are scarce and the need is immediate, we also have an obligation to ask how we can get the greatest public benefit from every dollar we spend.
LAUSD stands ready to dramatically expand this partnership, and if voters approve Charter Amendment PRK in November, I hope that some of that new funding will be set aside to do just that. We have hundreds of campuses across the city of Los Angeles, including many in communities with the least access to parks and open space. And as the district continues investing billions of dollars in greening projects, shade structures and improved outdoor spaces for our students, those public assets can benefit entire neighborhoods outside of school hours too.
In 2023, the City Council set a goal of opening 25 Community School Parks and scaling the pilot program from there. Three years later, we only have 11 open and are still nowhere close to realizing the potential sitting behind LAUSD’s gates.
Community School Parks are an opportunity to show what local government can look like when we get out of our silos. The concept is straightforward. The infrastructure already exists. And nearly everyone agrees it is a good idea. In fact, both of LA’s mayoral candidates have endorsed the program and say they support its expansion. And both are in a position right now to do that, starting now.
We have already proven the model works—and with Charter Amendment PRK going to voters in November—it’s time to stop treating it like a pilot program and codify it as the integral part of Los Angeles’ park system that it can and should be.
Sometimes solving a big problem doesn’t mean building something new. Sometimes it’s as simple as unlocking a gate.
Nick Melvoin serves on the Los Angeles Unified school board