Isn't it bad enough that we've lost our school downtown (Edwards), and cannot SAFELY walk our children to their new school (we're forced to walk in the street since there are no sidewalks)...but now they've ripped out the ONLY playground within walking distance for downtown families and replaced it with one more football field.

Locked Out. This is what our child saw one day when we walked over to the now ripped-out Van Note field behind the Edwards school. Locked out of the playground she grew up playing on...learned to ride her bike on...looked forward to playing with her baby sister on. We didn't have to get in a car and drive to this playground. We walked to it like many other neighborhood children & their families. When she saw what was done to her only playground she sobbed. Shame on the leaders of this town.
When questioned about why they decided to rip out the only playground downtown kids could walk to and replace it with a football field, Superintendent of Schools Thomas McMahon blamed it on the township saying that because Barnegat Twp. doesn't provide adequate fields for recreation, the school board had to make this decision.
The money to buy the equipment that was in the VanNote playground had been raised by the Edwards school PTA. This equipment was not relocated to any other playground...it was thrown away as far as we know.
The Van Note playground & field was nothing fancy...a few swings & slides...but more than enough to keep a kid happy and a great way to spend a little time with their family. I know other children & families feel the same way. Now it's time for these people to stand up for themselves, their families, their neighborhood and DO something. Don't just read this...speak out.