Three years ago, when Sherwood Forest Elementary School was rebuilt, the school district relocated noise-making playground equipment.

Since then, Polina Kazavchinskaya, a neighbor, has filed multiple complaints with the Bellevue School District about the noise that she describes as worse than a dog’s bark or child’s scream.

“It’s like living next to a musical school,” Kazavchinskaya said. “Everyone who stops by thinks that they are a drummer. You’ll hear a concert.”

Kazavchinskaya says the playground equipment is so loud that she can hear it in her bedroom.

The equipment primarily is designed for the approximately 30 special needs students who attend Sherwood Forest. However, Kazavchinskaya notes, it is mostly “healthy” students who play on the equipment.

School district officials said that to soften the impact, they packed heavy foam insulation into the drum instrument to dampen the sound, according to Bellevue School District Director of Communications Jacque Coe.

“We’ve really tried hard to address her concerns.” Coe said. “Unfortunately, we’ve never been able to satisfy them completely.”

Kazavchinskaya, said she hasn’t noticed significant improvement from the district’s efforts. In, she said, it hit its peak this past weekend.

“When they change a school’s layout they need to consider how it will impact an established neighbor,” Kazavchinskaya said.

Playground equipment at Sherwood Forest Elementary School includes musical bells and horns.

Erik Skopil, Bellevue Reporter