“It’s a deficit that perpetuates inactive lifestyles and therefore poor health,” Islas said. The district agreed to pay the extra custodial time while the city sprang for liability insurance. Promoting community health and other programs through shared use “may be an untapped resource” for schools, the survey suggested. But reports of vandalism and the difficulty of handing off the key caused the school district to pull the plug. “Joint use is a winner because it is simple,” said Harold Goldstein, director of Public Health Advocates, a nonprofit organization based in Davis, Calif. “In policy jargon, we call it a no-brainer.”

Source: New York Times March 27, 2018 09:45 UTC