School facility user fees proposed

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 10:49 a.m.

The Clark County School District wants to charge nonprofit groups -- including scouting troops -- to use its facilities, and will seek public input on the proposed fees at two forums Monday.

District officials say it costs more than $1 million a year to keep schools open after normal class hours and on the weekends to accommodate religious groups, scouting troops and special athletic events.

"The goal is to minimize the impact of usage to the district's general fund and student instruction," said Jim Howard, who is drafting the proposal for the district's budget office.

A plan last August to set an hourly rate for usage was quickly tabled after officials from the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts complained that the proposed formula would cost them more than $300,000 a year. The latest proposal calls for regular users to be charged a flat fee per meeting, Howard said.

"We believe $10 per meeting would be a reasonable amount to cover the costs associated with the wear and tear on the school," Howard said.

A portion of the fee would go directly to the host school, Howard said.

But Kelle Boteilho, membership and marketing director for the Girl Scouts of Frontier Council, said $10 is still too high a price.

"We have troops that meet once a week for 10 months out of the year, and generating $400 just to pay for meeting space is going to be an impossible task for some of them," Boteilho said.

Boteilho said she's still waiting for the district to provide her with requested materials explaining how the $1.3 million price tag was calculated. She also expressed concern that the town hall meetings were not better advertised and that no one from the district contacted the Girl Scouts to invite them to participate.

"These facilities were built with taxpayer dollars and should be used for educational purposes," Boteilho said. "It's not that we don't want to pay anything, but we expect this to be a reasonable process."

Other public agencies, including the county and most cities, already charge nonprofit groups to use meeting rooms, playgrounds and facilities.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia said Thursday he was looking forward to hearing the public's input on the proposed regulations.

"We're trying to strike a good compromise," Garcia said. "There are some great groups out there doing terrific things for our students, no one is disputing that. But one of the things (the Clark County School Board) has told me to do is find every opportunity to generate revenue for our students, all our students. And that's what we're doing."

In addition to discussing the usage fees proposal Monday's public forums will also include an update on the district's facilities master plan and proposed renovations to older campuses. The public forums will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Green Valley High School, 460 Arroyo Grande, Henderson and from 6 to 8 p.m. at Cimarron-Memorial High School, 2301 N. Tenaya Way in northwest Las Vegas.