ManitobaThe only play structure at a North Kildonan elementary school was closed due to safety concerns last week, leaving at least one couple worried their children may not have a proper playground for years to come. Parent advisory council considering options to fund replacement at Springfield Heights School: divisionLauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Oct 06, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 32 minutes agoThe deteriorating play structure at Springfield Heights School in Winnipeg’s North Kildonan neighbourhood was closed due to safety concerns last week. (Warren Kay/CBC)The only play structure at a North Kildonan elementary school was closed due to safety concerns last week, leaving at least one couple worried their children may not have a proper playground for years to come. Yellow caution tape went up around the play structure at Springfield Heights School on Sharron Bay, just west of Raleigh Street and south of Springfield Road, after workplace health and safety officials from the province issued a compliance order on Thursday, according to a statement from the River East Transcona School Division. The division said the play structure will be removed this week, and it may take years before enough money is raised to install a replacement. The River East Transcona School Division says it could take years to replace the play structure at Springfield Heights, (Warren Kay/CBC)A portion of the structure was removed last year after a maintenance department inspection found it to be unsafe. This year’s inspection found the structure had reached its end of life, the division said. Porscha Monkman and Jorey Veren, whose son is a Springfield Heights kindergarten student, say they raised concerns about the condition of the play structure when the school year started. It was rusted and had a previously boarded-up slide, they said.”You could visibly see that it had been deteriorating,” said Monkman. “You could just tell it had not been maintained very well at all, and that it visibly needed to be replaced.”The school division says parent advisory councils are typically in charge of funding play structures, with support from grants and community fundraising. School administration has met with the parent advisory council to discuss closure and removal options, River East Transcona communications manager Adrian Alleyne said in a Friday statement emailed to CBC.The administration and the parent council have begun considering options for replacing the equipment, but it will be a “significant, multi-year initiative” to fund the project, Alleyne said. ‘No forward thinking’: parentBut given the play structure’s condition, Monkman and Veren wonder why the parent advisory board — which they are not members of — did not consider a replacement sooner. “There was no forward thinking, in my opinion,” Veren said. “It seems to me like they knew exactly where this situation was going to end up, and they let it get to that point, full well knowing that this was going to only affect the children.”Monkman agrees the play structure should be taken down, “but the neglect part is the really frustrating part,” she said. Veren said his own elementary school experience, at nearby Sun Valley School, was marred by a lack of a play structure, and it’s “heartbreaking” to see his children miss out too. The division recognizes “how important play structures are to students’ school experiences, and we understand the emotions and disappointment this news has caused for families and community members,” Alleyne’s statement said.Springfield Heights will offer other alternative “active play opportunities” during recess, according to the statement.Monkman and Veren say they moved to the area a year ago to be closer to the school, but now wonder if that was a mistake, given that nearby Princess Margaret School has multiple play structures.Parent Jorey Veren says it’s ‘extremely concerning’ that a nature path was installed at Springfield Heights School, when its play structure was in poor condition. (Warren Kay/CBC)Springfield Heights recently installed a nature walk trail on the school grounds, Monkman and Veren note, with gravel and wood-chip lined paths, raised logs and a wooden cubby-like structure.”It’s extremely concerning that there was this much money put forth to a nature path when this [parent advisory council] knew the play structures were in this condition, and this was going to be an issue in the future,” said Veren.CBC News reached out to members of the school’s parent advisory council but did not immediately receive a response.ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Scott is a Winnipeg-based reporter with CBC Manitoba. They hold a master’s degree in computational and data journalism, and have previously worked for the Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press.With files from Jim Agapito
Closure of North Kildonan elementary school’s play structure ‘heartbreaking,’ parents say
