This and it’s appeal was rejected because ‘The submission is on an education facility, primarily for children aged 18 and under’
However I clearly state in the submission and appeal description (and the picture also shows) that it is a town recreation department, not an education facility. It used to be one but has since been converted.
Title: Franklin Recreation Department
Description: Formerly Gerald M. Parmenter Elementary School, this new Receation Department facility offers public events, sports leagues, and activity spaces.
Supplemental:
This used to be a school and was obviously off-limits before, but the school closed and is now a public town rec department. It hosts all sorts of town activities.
Hello and welcome,
To be clear you are querying the appeal rejection?
Could we please see the appeal text and the appeal rejection text.
Did you include any links to evidence the change of use?
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Hi and thanks! Yes, I didn’t know i could query the rejection first so I already did an appeal.
Appeal Text Below:
Appeal Notes
This has accurate information. Is both a place for exercise (indoor hockey leagues, basketball leagues, fields, gyms and activity rooms) and socialization by definition of being a department of recreation. It is safely off of roads (only on sidewalk/lawn), publicly accessible, not on private property, not an obstruction. and no longer a facility for K-12.
Appeal rejection text below:
Niantic Note
Thank you for your appeal, Explorer. Unfortunately, the object in question does not meet the Wayfarer criteria, as it is located on a Elementary School premises, which is considered an ineligible location. We recommend reviewing the Wayspot Criteria before submitting your next Wayspot contribution. You can find more information here: Wayfarer — Niantic Technical Support and Help Center
Reviewers provided these top reasons for not accepting this submission:
- The submission is on an education facility, primarily for children aged 18 and under
I did not include links, but I figured the sign that says rec center and no longer elementary school would have been enough. If it was one it would say elementary school on the sign. There actually aren’t a lot of obvious sources since it’s a relatively recent change and the town doesn’t have the best documentation, but I found one (slide 5 here)
There’s a lot of info here about the school district’s master plan, including closing some of the schools.
Parmenter Elementary is not listed as an active school. I even found some posts on their Facebook page from parents saying how sad their kids were that the school was closing earlier this year.
The address is also now listed as home to the town’s rec department: Recreation | Franklin, MA
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That’s brilliant evidence, seems pretty clear that it’s no longer a school
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Yeah, I looked up the school, and it was still listed as open on Google Maps. However, it’s no longer listed as an active school for the school district, they have a master plan showing consolidation of schools, including closing some, and the town rec department is now listed in this building.
It’s not unusual for former schools to become something else; there are quite a few former schools where I live that are now apartment buildings, for example. Even my hometown used to have 2 elementary schools, but built a new one. One of the former schools is now owned by the county and houses county departments, and the other is used as a head start preschool that is separate from the school district.
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I actually submitted the Google Maps change as well already, but they haven’t finished reviewing yet. I imagine that was part of the problem for the Wayfarer reviewers, since the map still shows it. Also thanks for taking the time to find the additional info - i was gonna post the school district site but wasn’t sure if the lack of the school was enough compared to an explicit ‘school closed’ type of messaging.
So if the evidence seems pretty clear, I assume I’d have to make a new submission with that evidence in it, and if it is rejected, post here before appealing? Based on other posts it seems that way and I shouldn’t have appealed first since that can’t be reversed.
You might want to hold back a while, it is known for staff to see these type of posts and make the changes.
Good luck.
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No need to resubmit at this time. Staff has advised us to come here to the forums when we disagree with a rejection from the appeals team. It’s possible that the rejection could get overturned and approved, so keep an eye on your email and Contribution Management for any changes before resubmitting.
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