A generation after Washoe County schools banned new swings on playgrounds over safety concerns, the childhood staple could be making a comeback.

Washoe County Trustees Beth Smith, a mother of two, and Colleen Westlake, a grandmother of nine, proposed revisiting the 27-year-old outdoor facility design policy for elementary and middle schools. It's on the agenda for the board's April 14 meeting.  

After the policy was enacted in 1999, no swings were actively removed from schools, according to meeting materials. But Smith said the policy prevented schools from replacing swings that were damaged. 

According to meeting materials, 55 out of the district's 67 elementary schools, 82 percent, have swings. 

Because Smith's fourth grader attends a school that still has swings, she hadn't noticed the ban until the board reviewed the design for reconstruction of Echo Loder Elementary School in Reno. It included a swing-free playground.

"We had been hearing loud and clear from parents that this just isn't OK," Smith said. "We have lost the plot if we view screens at school to be safe, but swings are not."

According to board materials, the district found that the rate of reported accidents or incidents on its existing swings is similar to rates for its other play structures. 

"You would think if something was genuinely a physical danger to children, we would have removed all of them," Smith said, though she adds that she doesn't begrudge the former trustees who passed the 1999 policy. 

The policy change would allow the district to include swings in the design of the playgrounds for planned elementary schools, such as JWood Raw Elementary School in Reno, or upgrade swings at the schools that already have them. 

The district estimates it would cost $25,000 to $50,000 to add a set of four swings to a capital project, and annual maintenance for each additional set of four swings could cost between $500 to $1,000. 

The policy change would also open the door for the board to add more trees and direct the district on where they should be placed. When the school board reviewed Echo Loder's design for a second time in January, Smith said more trees were added in accordance with the board's recommendation, but none were in places students could access. 

The policy would also require at least one stand-alone shade structure in schools' designs. Currently, 48 of 67 district elementary schools, or 71 percent, have a stand-alone shade structure. 

Smith said adding more shade structures to school design is crucial with Reno being the fastest-warming city in the U.S.  

"So the district was providing some, but it's our job to pause and say, 'Should we be doing more here?' And I believe the answer is yes," she said. 

Smith added that adopting this policy would bring parity to school designs and give trustees a say earlier in the process. 

"When we're seeing designs in a board meeting, that's too late in the process, and that … introduces too much variability," she said. "By setting specifications by majority board vote, it actually helps staff by knowing this is what everybody should get."