Commentary: Pay to Play is OK for Adult Basketball
By Brian Otley,
January 26, 2012, page 2.....

I had to scratch my head after reading Dr. Finette’s commentary (“Is This the Community We Want to Be?,” The Charlotte News, January 12, 2012) regarding the fees being charged to outside groups to use the CCS facilities, including the adult open basketball program. In an ideal world, of course the community would allow groups to use the school facilities, which are funded by local property taxes, without any fees. And in an ideal world, the school budget would balance itself each year and there would be 100% support for it among community members. And CCS would be at the top of all measurements for educational quality. And the school leadership would never have to weigh cutting CCS staff in order to meet a budget mandate. But we don’t live in an ideal world and none of those things happen.  In fact, each year there is stressful give and take among community members and our school board representatives to strike the right balance between the quality of the education being provided at CCS and the cost to do that.  In recent years we have seen increased pressure to lower the school budget year over year and reduce its impact on local property taxes, without sacrificing the quality of the education and diversity of programs offered at CCS. We have seen the School Board make compromises to meet the middle ground on the tension between cost and quality. These compromises wouldn’t have to occur in the ideal world where adult open basketball, among other programs, plays for free.
 It’s really simple – outside groups using the CCS facilties create costs that otherwise would not be incurred if they didn’t use them.  Electricity isn’t free.  Heat isn’t free.  Cleaning up after these groups so the facilities are ready for the students isn’t free. The wear and tear on the facilities isn’t free. When community members use the outside fields or playgrounds at CCS there is no real, discernible cost incurred by the school for that use, so that argument falls short.  Not so with the gym and other indoor facilities - there is real cost associated with their use. Assigning that cost to those who create them is logical and responsible at a time when the School Board is being asked to make budget cuts that directly impact the quality and diversity of the experience offered at CCS.
 I hope we live in a community where we value small class sizes at CCS over free, evening hoops sessions. I hope we live in a community where we value funding B team sports programs at CCS over having UVM students come down to CCS for some free gym time. I hope we live in a community that shares the belief that our town fabric is made better by the caliber of students and young adults we graduate from CCS than having CCS best known for being a great place to get a free “run” in. I hope that is the type of community we want to be. In an ideal world we’d be able to have all of these things and wouldn’t have to make choices. In the meantime, pay to play or take the game to one of the local health club courts where you will, of course, pay to play.
 
Brian Otley