Wiscasset may do more than the state requires for fencing Wiscasset Elementary School’s playground, and may go with a cheaper surface than in 2015, Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot said.

The state only requires the pre-kindergarten’s play area to be enclosed with fencing, natural boundaries, or a combination of the two, Wilmot told the School Committee Feb. 25. But the playground committee is looking at options to enclose the whole playground, she said.

In addition, Maine Recreation and Design has been drafting possible equipment and surface designs. Higher swings for older students are being considered, along with wood chips in some places.

Last year’s new, rubberized surface where the playground was worked on cost about $30,000, Wilmot said. “(It) was significantly expensive ... The playground committee talked about wanting to use something that was more cost-effective.” Wood chips cost the least, she said.

Rubberized pieces were not being considered due to the nearby flats, she said.

The surface applied last year was a poured, solid rubber, not the pieces, playground committee member Kim Andersson said.

In a telephone interview Sunday, Andersson said the wood chips should work well and look natural in the grassy area where they will go. The surface applied last year was in an asphalt area, she said.

Wilmot expects to show the School Committee proposed designs later in March.

Wiscasset Elementary students went public Thursday night with their own ideas to improve the playground. A half-dozen students gave a team presentation that sought swings and other equipment for older students, a place to practice sports, and signs telling playground users to be responsible.

They also suggested fundraising to replace lost equipment; a rotating cadre of students to retrieve equipment at the end of recess to help preserve the equipment and promote responsibility; and only replacing lost equipment once each trimester to further show the importance of taking care of it.

School committee members and attendees gave the students a long round of applause.

“Great job, guys,” member Chelsea Haggett said.

Art teacher Donna Barnes, who worked with students on the project, called the group the future of Wiscasset. Artwork from the project lined the committee’s tables throughout the meeting.

The project began last September, Barnes said. Students across the school’s grades made drawings, then the older students made three-dimensional artwork that took into consideration safety, the playground’s size and the ages and number of students who use it, she said.