As playgrounds reopen, does that include play areas at Wake County public schools?

With North Carolina moving into a new phase of reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, playgrounds across the region are open now or reopening soon after closing to the public in March.

Those include playgrounds in Raleigh, Garner, Cary, Wake County, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County. We covered the reopening plans for playgrounds and museum across the region in this earlier post.

But what about the playgrounds at Wake County Public School System locations? I recently got this question from a couple of readers. With school happening virtually until at least Oct. 22 in Wake County, the parents were eager to spend a little time with their kids on their school's actually campus. So I checked in with school officials to find out.

Here's the deal: Wake County Public School System playgrounds are not open. And, in fact, according to Lisa Luten, the system's communications director, they are never open to the general public to play — even when there is not a pandemic that's preventing physical schools from opening up.

I know that might be news to lots of families out there who have spent time playing on their local school's playgrounds. But, these days, it might be best to just wistfully drive by your child's school as my family has done more than a few times in recent weeks instead.