BP 1.7 Community Spaces: Schools and schoolyards include areas that the community can use. 

About

Integrating accessible community spaces into K-12 school property represents an essential shift toward viewing schools as central anchors of civic resilience and public health. Public school buildings and schoolyards are primary investments funded by taxpayers, yet they traditionally remain closed during non-school hours, cutting off public access to safe, localized recreational infrastructure (Public Health Law Center, 2016). In many Minnesota municipalities, school zones represent the only available green infrastructure, indoor athletic facilities, or meeting areas capable of hosting civic gatherings. Opening these facilities to the public directly addresses systemic inequities in park access, mitigates sedentary lifestyles, and strengthens the neighborhood-school relationship by transforming institutional acreage into dynamic, multi-generational community hubs (ChangeLab Solutions, 2015).

Vision and Benefits

When a community-use policy is perfectly executed, the boundary between the schoolyard and the surrounding neighborhood becomes seamlessly porous yet highly secure outside of instructional hours. As evening or weekend hours arrive, automated access control systems or designated site coordinators unlock perimeter gates and specific interior zones, welcoming families, local sports leagues, and civic organizations into well-lit, universally accessible tracks, fields, school gardens, and media centers (Action for Healthy Kids, 2023). Multilingual digital signage explicitly outlines public-use hours, safety expectations, and streamlined reservation processes. The facilities operate at peak utility, where indoor and outdoor spaces are activated year-round without compromising student safety, disrupting academic schedules, or overburdening facilities staff.

Adopting a formalized shared-use framework yields substantial health, fiscal, and regulatory advantages for Minnesota school districts. From a health perspective, providing neighborhood access to tracks, playgrounds, and green spaces significantly lowers chronic disease risks by driving up community-wide physical activity indices (Spengler, 2012). Financially, schools can offset incremental custodial or utility overhead by instituting tiered cost-recovery rental rates for private groups, while simultaneously accessing municipal funding and grants through Joint Use Agreements (JUAs) with local parks and recreation departments (Minneapolis Public Schools, 2025). Furthermore, a well-utilized, highly visible campus naturally deters vandalism and property damage through constant passive surveillance, building stronger public goodwill that frequently translates into higher voter approval for future school capital bonds.

Implement Best Practice Actions in a Project

• Select Best Practice Actions (BPAs) to work on and complete. 

• Review the list of actions that can be taken to shift your district or school toward 1.7 Community Spaces. Start by documenting the practices already being done at the school. Choose the practices that best fit the school's opportunities and other considerations.

A. Assessment and Planning Actions 

Creating a management plan will help you stay organized, set informed goals, and prioritize objectives. Management plans offer numerous benefits, including increased efficiency and productivity by providing schools with the tools to manage funds and resources effectively, define evaluation criteria, and develop contingency plans. Trust us, you won’t regret it! 

A.1 Conduct Baseline Assessment 

• Conduct a baseline assessment of existing conditions and practices specific to BPNAME.  

A.2 Establish Management Team 

• Allocate time and responsibilities to a person or team to regularly maintain data, management systems, and records.

A.3 Comprehensive Audit

• Conduct a comprehensive audit of rentable indoor and outdoor zones (e.g., gymnasiums, cafeterias, walking paths, community gardens) using the Action for Healthy Kids Open Facility Assessment Tool.

A.4 neighborhood surveys

• Issue neighborhood surveys to evaluate local recreational deficits, ensuring scheduling aligns with high-demand time slots for families and marginalized groups.

A.5 Committee Planning

• Convene a stakeholder committee comprising school board legal counsel, district facilities directors, and municipal park representatives to draft or update local policy using the Public Health Law Center MN Policy Framework.

B. Overall Performance and Impact Actions

B.1 Establish a Performance Monitoring Practice with Baseline

• Looking at performance metrics for this best practice that are used at the school and other potential metrics, establish a baseline reference year and a regular practice (at least yearly) to monitor the performance of this best practice.

Performance Metrics to Consider:

• Metric 1: Track the total number of community-use hours logged per month outside of traditional school hours (target: minimum 15 hours per week of open public access).

• Metric 2: Quantify user diversity and neighborhood penetration by recording the number of distinct local organizations utilizing the permit system annually.

• Metric 3: Monitor the district cost-recovery ratio, evaluating whether community permit fees effectively offset 100% of the incremental custodial overtime and utility costs incurred using the Minneapolis Public Schools Fee Calculator Model.

B.2 Track and Improve Performance

• Using the established baseline and performance monitoring practices, track performance improvements over time relative to baseline use. Where possible, identify the relationship between actions and overall impact improvements. 

B.3 Complete Performance Planning 

• Conduct an analysis of current performance and impacts, and set a strategic plan to transition the school over time toward bold goals for ideal performance. Identify the direct and indirect impacts, considering environmental, cost, health, and educational benefits.
  
  

B.4  Implement Vision Backcasting

• Gather the green team and representatives from staff, students, the community, and resource organizations to imagine how improved BPNAME could help us reach our fully sustainable vision for the district and its schools. Make this scenario engaging with sketches or models. Engage youth. 

C. Implementation Actions

C.1 Deploy a centralized, user-friendly digital scheduling and reservation software platform on the district website to handle applications, liability waivers, and fee collection transparently.

C.2 Install physical infrastructure partitions, such as interior security gates, programmable electronic key-fob access points, and independent HVAC zoning, to restrict public access to academic wings.

C.3 Erect prominent, multilingual exterior signage detailing public hours, emergency contact numbers, and carry-in/carry-out waste policies to maintain clean, safe schoolyards.

D.  Youth Club Actions

D.1 Design and Build Interactive Features:

• Direct the student green team or environmental club to design and install interpretive signage along schoolyard paths detailing native Minnesota plant species, rain gardens, or wildlife habitats for public education.

D.2 Community Welcoming & Orientations: 

• Task youth leaders with hosting seasonal "Open Schoolyard Days" or student-led tours to welcome neighborhood families, demonstrate how to use community gardens, and promote public health activities.

D.3 Feedback Loops: 

• Have the student club manage a QR code feedback campaign posted at park entrances to gather community suggestions on improving the safety, accessibility, and environmental features of the school grounds.

Online Resources:

• See links in text above for resources relevant to specific actions, also see resources consulted or cited for sources.

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