TPS removes potentially dangerous playground equipment

After sending certified inspectors to survey playgrounds at 58 playgrounds across the district, Tulsa Public Schools has located and removed the only X-Wave apparatus on district property. The device—which resembles three teeter-totters joined horizontally at the ends with flexible material—is being investigated to determine whether it was responsible for the death of a nine-year-old girl in Wyandotte, Oklahoma last Thursday.

“We are simply exercising an abundance of caution,” said Tami Marler, director of the TPS office of public information. “We will return it to its original place if it is determined to be safe.”

The X-Wave was removed Wednesday morning from one of the playgrounds at Henry Zarrow International Elementary School, 2714 S. 90th E. Ave., before students arrived at school. School officials are notifying parents with a letter going home with students.

Certified playground inspector Duane Beamer said the X-Wave had been at Zarrow for about five years without incident. He said it was in perfect working condition but is now being stored at the district’s maintenance department.

Investigators in Wyandotte say Alyssa Avila, a fourth-grade student, died about two hours after she apparently fell from an X-Wave at her school’s playground in Ottawa County. The state medical examiner’s office is investigating her death although a report may not be completed for several weeks.