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GREENSBORO — Parts of playgrounds at nine Guilford County elementary schools are off limits to children participating in after-school programs because state inspectors say they are not safe.

However, that same equipment is open for many of the same children to use during the regular school day.

June Locklear, who heads the state’s Division of Child Development, says her department’s standards are based on national consumer product safety guidelines.

“Very often, these restrictions will have to do with the surfacing under the equipment,” Locklear said. Surfacing can be rubber matting or mulch that helps cushion a child’s fall.

Locklear’s division licenses after-school programs much like day care centers are licensed. Although licensing is voluntary, many after-school programs pursue it as a mark of quality that can help with marketing or to reassure parents.

Although the Division of Child Development can place specific restrictions on playground equipment for after-school programs, “we have no authority over public schools.”

The state has its own guidelines for playground equipment, but school systems are free to set their own rules.

Locklear said safety advisories for different equipment can vary for children of different ages, but restrictions filed by her agency typically have to do with issues that would cause problems for children of any age.

The division found problems at nine of the 64 Guilford County schools where it licenses after-school programs. In some cases, the things that put equipment off-limits to students after school are relatively minor.

“The piece that needs to be repaired is a bridge between two of the sections,” said Irving Park Elementary School principal Melissa Nixon , describing the problem with a burgundy and tan piece of equipment. The issue, she said, involved some missing screws.

Nixon said the affected piece is roped off with yellow caution tape and extra mulch has been pushed underneath to help buffer any accidents.

Other notations in state files put entire pieces of gear, such as monkey bars, off-limits, or in the case of Alamance Elementary a notation simply says “Front playground can not be used.”

Haley Miller , a spokesman for Guilford County Schools, said the district’s maintenance department was looking at the nine schools in question to verify any safety issues.

“For most of the schools that were listed, it looks like less of a safety issue and more of a question as to what might be age appropriate,” Miller said. “We would never want children to play on any equipment that wouldn’t be safe for them.”

Most of the children in the after-school programs are the same age as students who attend elementary schools, although some do serve kids as young as four years old.

There are 748 after-school programs operating on public school campuses throughout the state. Of those, 280 have restrictions placed on their playgrounds by the Division of Child Development.

Problems found in other areas around the state include 8-to-10-foot drops with little or no surfacing to absorb falls, broken swings, rusty nails and “entrapments.”

In each of those cases, if the school deems the gear safe, children can play on it during the day.

Dortch Mann, a parent of a student at Aycock Middle school, said he found the difference between the standards confusing. Although he works on health and safety issues for the Guilford County Council of PTAs, Mann said the council has not looked at this issue and could not comment on it as a group.

“Just as a parent, though, it seems pretty ironic that it’s fine from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then it can’t be used afterward,” Mann said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

He said the problem sounds like one frequently encountered by schools where regulations overlap .

In response to these conflicts, state legislators have been pushing a change to state regulations. Under the bill, a playground at a public school could not be inspected by the Division of Child Development. That change has already passed the Senate and is due to be considered in a House committee this week.

The bill’s lead author, Sen. Richard Stevens , a Republican from Cary, did not return phone calls Friday. However, Locklear said this week the change is a bad idea, and it has drawn opposition from child daycare advocates.

“So what is going to be the incentive to fix something that has just broken, or replace surfacing that has just dissolved,” said Roz Savitt , a lobbyist for the North Carolina Child Care Coalition. She said it would make more sense to urge schools to bring their playgrounds up to standard rather than move to exempt them from inspection.

“When you put a license on the wall...it sends a message to parents that somebody has reviewed this program, that it is safe. Parents will have no idea about this.”

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com