Parents have been fundraising for three years to replace the old playground equipment at Willows elementary school on Vancouver Island.
Combined with a recent government grant, they thought they had enough -- until they were hit with a hidden cost: Installation.
Parents will have to pay $26,000 for the school board's unionized employees to install it.
"Most of us were shocked by the actual cost of it," says Parent Advisory Council (PAC) president Steve Huxter.
Huxter says a private contractor quoted him a significantly lower rate, but the school board insisted the PAC must use its own unionized members for installation.
NDP opposition says playground equipment and installation should be covered by the province - not by parents.
"It's bad enough to make parents fundraise to the money for playgrounds," says NDP education critic David Cubberley.
"That money should be provided. But then to add another barrier of saying you have to fund the installation costs and that's not supported either. That's just too much."
Education Minister Shirley Bond isn't making any promises.
"I think that there's always an argument that you can always find more and we're certainly committed to trying to find ways," says Bond.
Steve Huxter says he doesn't mind a bit of fundraising, but there's a limit.
"Parents are just getting burned out by the whole process," says Steve.
"At some time frustration is going to rise to a boiling point and there are going to be some ministers hearing about it."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty
