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Board waives school-facility fees after Pleasantville AARP chapter requests assistance
Summary
Pleasantville AARP chapter told the board it received a $3,240 bill to use the school cafeteria and asked the district to waive the fee; the board approved waiving facility fees at the Oct. 14 meeting.
Sandy Thompson, representing the Pleasantville chapter of AARP, told the board on Oct. 14 that her chapter had used the school cafeteria for years and had been billed $3,240 this year after returning to in-person meetings. "We don't have any money to pay this bill," she told the board, noting the chapter meets once a month for two to three hours and has been using the cafeteria for about eight to 10 years prior to COVID.
Thompson asked the board to waive the fee for the nonprofit chapter; later in the meeting the board voted to approve facilities items and explicitly approved waiving all fees. The motion to waive fees was moved by Mister Gibson and seconded by Miss Akins; the motion carried on roll call.
Why it matters: The waiver preserves access to school facilities for a longstanding community organization and may set a precedent for other nonprofit uses of district space.
Board members said the waiver was approved as part of the facilities items; administrators noted community groups that have a long history of using facilities are considered for waivers. The motion did not include a change to the district's published fee schedule on the record; the board's vote applied to the identified facilities requests on the Oct. 14 agenda.
Ending: The AARP chapter's request was granted at the meeting and the group may continue monthly use without paying the billed amount for the year covered by the motion.
