The BoardsCorner Update from CCS by Edorah Frazer, CCS School Board Member,
December 15, 2011, page 7.....

Revisiting the Fee
Policy for Community Use of School Facilities

At the November 15 Charlotte School Board meeting, there was a lively, passionate and thoughtful discussion pertaining to CSSU Policy H1: Use of School Facilities. The policy states, “It is the policy of Chittenden South Supervisory Union to support the community use of school facilities in ways that complement regular school activities.” At the end of a series of guidelines, the policy also states, “A usage fee will be charged in accordance with a fee schedule developed by the Superintendent and approved by the Board.” Though the current version of this policy originated in 2003, the consistent assessment and universal collection of fees for the use of CCS facilities has only been implemented since the beginning of this school year, following a decision by the board last spring to include $10,000 in the revenue line of the 2011-12 budget from building rental fees. In accordance with this decision, the CCS administration began issuing contracts based on a fee structure to groups using the school after-hours.
A dozen or more participants in the Charlotte open-gym intergenerational basketball nights came to the board meeting to discuss the value of their experience and the impact of the assessment of fees on their group. The board agreed that this group, as well as many others, has great value and that we want to support the continued use of the school facility by our community. One suggestion from the audience was that waivers be granted to groups that are open to any member of the Charlotte community. Board members expressed varied perspectives on fee waivers and whether the policy allows board input on the issuance of waivers. The board ultimately decided to send this policy back to the CSSU Policy Committee for review and possible inclusion of waiver language. As the policy committee will next meet in February, the question of waivers will not be considered until after the CCS budget has been finalized. The board will need to decide whether or not to include revenue from building rental fees in the 2012-2013 budget. We welcome public comment on this policy and the benefits and drawbacks of including building rental fees as revenue at our next board meeting on Tuesday, December 20, at 6:30 p.m.