The Tempe City Council approved an intergovernmental agreement last week that opens most of Tempe Elementary School District's playgrounds to public use after school hours and on weekends.
The vote was unanimous. The city and the school district will share liability. The city's community services department employees will make evening and weekend rounds to oversee security at the school facilities.
"It's been on our plates for a while and I think we all knew this was the right thing to do and it was good for the community to have more access and be able to play with their families," city councilwoman Robin Arredondo-Savage said at the meeting.
The school district will also open fields at its middle schools, a district spokeswoman told the Tribune. Organized groups who want to use any school facilities for practices must still set that up through the city or school district.
