Very Specialized Planks

At CEIP Miguel Hernández school in Orihuela, parents have removed loose wooden slats from a pergola that had raised concerns about children’s safety for months.

The story began in spring. There were reports, inspections, temporary reinforcements, a hazardous area was cordoned off, and a commitment was made to arrange urgent repairs. The municipal council announced maintenance contracts for school buildings. Yet by October, the pergola remained a problem.

How can such a delay be explained? Perhaps the repair really was complicated. Perhaps specialists, a cost estimate, authorisations, suitable materials and compliance with procedures were required. The municipal system will surely have plenty of objective reasons.

And then the parents arrived.

They did not open an urgent administrative case, prepare a cost estimate or launch a tender. They dealt with the loose planks and removed them. Because their children play in that yard, and child safety does not sit particularly well with waiting for the next document.

The story offers a lesson in specialisation. For the professionals, according to previous explanations, the job was so specialised that it required time and procedures. The parents, without a dedicated contract or a formal completion certificate, managed to do what they believed was necessary.

Of course, removing the slats is not the same as inspecting the load-bearing structure and carrying out a full repair. That work must be done by specialists. But that is precisely why one question remains: why has the process still not reached that stage?

There may be objective explanations: procedures, cost estimates and the need to hire specialists. But the priority now is not to explain why the repair has been delayed. It is to give a specific date for its completion.

The parents have already removed the loose planks. The next step belongs to the municipal council: inspect the load-bearing structure, determine the scope of the work and make the pergola safe.

A good ending to this story would not be another promise, but the day when children can return to the yard without concern and their parents no longer have to worry about this pergola.