Churches should supervise school grounds
Opening the schools after hours for kids is not safe for the kids or the schools without supervision. This supervision should come from our faith based places of worship.
They should adopt schools and work with the school district to provide a weekly Saturday “recess day.” That could include organized playground activities, study time in the library and Zumba classes in the auditorium for the parents.
Sound “far-fetched?” Talk to The Bridge church in Fresno. This is exactly what it has done at a central Fresno school. I don’t attend The Bridge but had an opportunity to meet Daniel, one of the young missionaries, at a meeting with our city councilmembers.
He said that he was part of an inner-city mission outreach and that sections of Fresno have the same poverty and crime demographics as you would expect in Detroit or Los Angeles. This should be a challenge to all our faith-based institutions, to extend one of your mission fields to include your own city.
This is not a violation of the separation of church and state if it is operated under the guidelines provided by the school district. This would be a good start to provide a safe outdoor environment for our kids.
Scott Singleton, Fresno
This story was originally published September 27, 2015 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Churches should supervise school grounds."