Powell schools don’t want their playgrounds to go to the dogs.

After multiple incidents of pet owners not picking up after their animals and letting dogs run free, Park County School District No. 1 will ban pets from all school grounds starting today (Thursday).

The decision was made after young kids repeatedly came into contact with dog poop during recess.

“We are seeing more dogs in places, but specifically, the biggest issue is at Southside,” said Rob McCray, support services coordinator for the district.

The top concern is the health and safety of students, said Scott Schiller, principal of Southside Elementary School.

“While we haven’t seen any illness that can be directly connected to students having contact with dog feces, there are a few illnesses that can occur due to contact,” he said.

A more noticeable concern: When students accidentally track dog poop into schools.

“It doesn’t take much dog feces on shoes or clothing to become very noticeable to everybody in the classroom,” Schiller said. “The smell can overwhelm a whole classroom. When that occurs, it creates a distraction in our learning environment, and creates more work for our custodial staff to incorporate additional intensive cleaning methods during and after school.”

While some pet owners are responsible and pick up after their animals, “we’ve seen people come in and just open the gate and let them loose,” McCray said.

Under city code, violators can be cited for a dog at large, a dog being off leash in public and not cleaning up after pets.

“We have signs at all of our playgrounds that say you have to pick up after your pet and quote the city code — but it’s not happening,” McCray said.

It’s easier to police the “no pet” rule, he said.

“We’ll probably try to have signs put up before long, and you know, we wouldn’t want them [police] to fine people right away. It’s just more of an education — that we don’t want dogs on our property, especially when they’re not being cleaned up after,” McCray said.

He said he hopes that people will respect what the playgrounds are intended for: A place where kids can play.

When a stray dog gets onto school grounds, the district calls the Powell Police Department to have the animal taken away.

The district is still allowing people to walk at school grounds on evenings and weekends and use playground equipment, but just asks that they leave pets at home.

“We certainly want to be good neighbors and want to welcome people to our schools,” McCray said. “But it’s just like your house — you wouldn’t want neighbors to let their dogs poop in your yard and then you have to clean it up or your kids play in it. It’s no different for us.”

Principal Schiller said he hopes the community understands the decision is for good reason. He also hopes people are aware that it’s a problem when they don’t satisfactorily clean up after their pets.

“Powell has an excellent system of parks and green spaces that families can enjoy,” Schiller said, “and if everybody takes on the responsibility of keeping their dogs leashed and cleaning up after them, our parks and green spaces will remain a source of pride for our community.”