HEALTHY SCHOOLYARDS INITIATIVE
THE STATE OF SCHOOLYARDS
The movement for green space
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From across the nation, people flock to Colorado to experience our state’s vast natural areas. From the peaks of the Maroon Bells to the sands of the San Luis Valley, there is no shortage of wilderness and nature to explore. It’s no secret that Colorado is famous for our outdoor recreation. Even within our urban areas, Colorado has become renowned on a national level for our green spaces.
According to the Trust for Public Land’s ParkServe tool, more than 70% of the population in all 5 of Colorado’s largest metropolitan areas (Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Lakewood, and Fort Collins) live within a ten minute walk of a park (1). In 2025, Denver ranked 10th in the nation when accounting for green space acreage, access, investment, amenities, and equity (2).
The resulting health benefits from having access to green space and spending time in nature are widely studied, especially when it comes to children and their health, safety, and development (3). In fact since its beginnings in the late aughts, the movement to convert traditional asphalt schoolyards into green spaces that prioritize outdoor learning and creative nature play has gained traction in states across the country (4). However, there is often a key piece missing from the green schoolyards conversation- the use of dangerous synthetic pesticides. This issue is especially pervasive here in Colorado, despite our reputation as a leader in the green space and outdoor recreation movement.
Pesticides and the danger to children’s health
Children are especially vulnerable to pesticide and other toxic exposures due to their smaller size, developing bodies, and time spent playing outdoors (5). On school grounds, this risk is increased by landscaping choices - much of the greenery on Colorado schoolyards is non-native and ornamental, requiring chemical treatments to maintain. Instead of supporting children’s health and well-being, these spaces put the very population most sensitive to toxics at
unnecessary risk.
This risk persists because of significant gaps in the legal protections meant to prevent it. At the federal level, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) establishes a baseline pesticide registration process through the EPA, but that process is widely recognized as flawed, industry-friendly, and not protective, and it leaves enforcement to states (6). Colorado’s own laws, the Pesticide Act and the Pesticide Applicators’ Act, do even less - the only provision addressing pesticide use on school grounds requires posting a notification sign, with rules that govern little more than the sign’s size and placement at one entry point (7).
PPAN’s Healthy Schoolyards Initiative
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Through the new Healthy Schoolyards Initiative, PPAN is mobilizing educators, administrators, parents, and state and community leaders to:
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Advance pesticide-free land management as a practical, low-cost solution that protects children’s health without straining school budgets
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Advance stronger state and local protections against pesticide exposure for children
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Build a coalition of stakeholders in childhood education to expand safe, natural outdoor learning across Colorado
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Where opportunities allow, PPAN also supports the longer-term greening of gray, asphalt schoolyards into nature-play spaces to ease the effects of intensifying heat and to create healthier places for children to learn and play.
PPAN cares deeply about this issue. In 2022, we led Colorado’s first omnibus pesticide-safety bill, which included school grounds pesticide restrictions and notification requirements; it failed in committee amid strong opposition from the agrochemical industry. We have also made multiple attempts, through SB20-189, SB22-131, HB24-1178, and the Pesticide Applicators’ Act sunset review, to remove the state’s preemption of local pesticide regulation so communities can set their own protections; each was defeated due to industry lobbying. Our ongoing work includes an organic turf management program, a pollinator habitat grants program, pesticide reduction coalitions, and support for HB25-1061, a new state law establishing a schoolyard grant program.
Every child deserves a schoolyard where they can explore nature safely, free from unnecessary pesticide exposure. Join PPAN in making that a reality across Colorado.
Resource library, technical assistance, & funding - coming soon
1. The Trust for Public Land. (2025b). ParkScore Index [Map]. The Trust for Public Land. https://parkserve.tpl.org/mapping/ 2. The Trust for Public Land. (2025a). Denver, CO ParkScore ranking. 2025 ParkScore City Rankings; The Trust for Public Land. https://www.tpl.org/city/denver-colorado 3. Stark, B. (2025, July 14). Nature play: Benefits for children and families. University of Minnesota. Umn.Edu. https://ceed.umn.edu/nature-play-benefits-children-and-families 4. Orellana, A. (2026, February 18). National Coalition launches refreshed green schoolyards action agenda. Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land. https://www.tpl.org/media-room/national-coalition-launches-refreshed-green-schoolyards-action-agenda 5. United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2014, February 12). Children’s unique vulnerabilities to environmental hazards | US EPA. US EPA. US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/children/childrens-unique-vulnerabilities-environmental-hazards 6. Dr. Jennifer Sass Senior Scientist, Environmental Health & Nature, & Wu Alum, M. (2013, March 26). Superficial safeguards: Most pesticides are approved by flawed EPA process. Natural Resource Defense Council. NRDC.Org. https://www.nrdc.org/resources/superficial-safeguards-most-pesticides-are-approved-flawed-epa-process-issuebrief 7. Colorado Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry. (2015). Title 35 Article 10 Pesticide Applicator’s Act [PDF]. Colorado Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry. https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/cepep/docs/12-16-2015%20PRINT%20COPY%20CRS%20Title%2035%20Article%2010%20(2015).pdf