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61 <br />STATISTICS <br />TREND 9 <br />INCREASED NEED FOR PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS <br />As budgets are increasingly tight for both <br />municipalities and school districts in the US, it is <br />not uncommon for both entities to reduce their <br />spending on programming, recreation facility <br />improvements, operations, and maintenance. Often <br />times, this results in reduced collaboration between <br />schools and local governments, as both may lack <br />the capacity and funds to run programs and operate <br />facilities. Simultaneously, community desire for <br />safe, accessible, and affordable options for play and <br />recreation is increasing as populations grow. <br />To create efficiencies and maximize economical use <br />of public resources, collaboration between school <br />districts and cities is important and should be <br />considered. Clear, formalized joint use agreements <br />can make resource sharing easier and more <br />agreeable for both parties. <br />$360 billion <br />$60 billion <br />Lost spending on US K-12 public school funding between <br />2016 and 2021 as 39 states devote a smaller share of their <br />economies to funding public schools <br />deferred maintenance backlog facing local parks in the US <br />Figure 2.27: Children interacting with school <br />playground amenities <br />Figure 2.28: Joint use agreements can lead <br />to better collaboration between school <br />districts and cities <br />Figure 2.26: School amenity use signage <br />Sources: “Opening School Grounds to the Community After Hours - a <br />toolkit for increasing physical activity through joint use agreements” <br />ChangeLab Solutions (www.changelabsolutions.org); American <br />Federation of Teachers; ASCE’s 2021 Infrastructure Report Card