School Committee endorses $175,479 CPC request for new high school ropes course

WAYLAND — December 5, 2024 — Wayland School Committee unanimously backs $175,479 CPC grant to replace 1972 high school ropes course. Meeting remotely Dec. 5, the committee voted 3-0 to send a letter of support to the Community Preservation Committee for a joint schools–Recreation Department request covering equipment, a storage shed, staff training, inspection and roughly $30,000 to clear the existing course. Only two of the original course's 10 elements remain usable, Scott Parseghian told the committee, because the trees anchoring it are "dying, they're breaking, they're falling." Susan Bottan said annual maintenance of about $3,000 will be split evenly with Recreation at $1,500 each, with rec staff certified to inspect alongside an outside organization. Member Christina Rodriguez pushed to spell out the shared ownership in the letter so the CPC would not ask, "why are you asking me to buy it?" The new course is expected to last 30 to 50 years.