ARE YOU ALLOWED TO USE PUBLIC PARKS THAT ARE USED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECESS?

There are a few public city parks that are shared with elementary schools during school hours for recess. I have talked to Weber School District and the different city parks departments to find out their official stance on whether the public is allowed on the playground on these public parks during school hours. Both Weber School District and the cities are in agreement that the public ARE ALLOWED to play along side the school children at these public parks during school hours. Whether you want to use the playground with the school children present is up to the individual user. And according to district safety rules, taking pictures of school children on the playground is not allowed. 

My first experience of this situation was at the North Ogden Park in 2018. We had never visited this park before and so we were unaware that it was a shared playground with the elementary school. We quickly realized this when around 60 school aged children charged the play structure for recess. My then 2 and 4 year old children were startled and slightly intimidated and we chose to leave the park, not knowing if we were allowed or not.

We later had experiences at the Monroe Park in Ogden (used by St. Joe's Catholic School) and Municipal Park in Roy where we chose to stay and play with no issues. When we visited Sand Ridge Park in Roy the nearby Junior High School kids were using the park during the lunchtime. We chose to leave this time because the junior high students were sitting on all the swings and using inappropriate language. We also had to squeeze by groups of girls congregating in the public restrooms at the park.

Public Parks Currently Used by Schools or Daycares During School Hours

(Public access ALLOWED during school hours)

North Ogden Park (upper playground)- North Ogden, UT

Monroe Park - Ogden, UT

Riverdale Park (upper playground)- Riverdale, UT

40th Street Park- South Ogden, UT

Browning Park- South Ogden, UT

Municipal Park- Roy, UT

Sand Ridge Park- Roy, UT (used by Sand Ridge Junior High during lunchtime)

There are a few exceptions to this rule that we know about.  In the Sand Ridge Park there are ball playing fields behind the playground that are actually owned by the local school district and there is NO public access allowed. There are visible signs posted on the fencing and fields stating this at the park.

We  are unaware of the public status at the Marshall White Center playground in Ogden. When we drove by it appeared to be used at the time by a daycare center of young children. We intend to ask Ogden City about it soon.