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Aldermen seek clarification with school district after ice-skating fee miscommunication
Summary
A miscommunication over fees for a middle school ice-skating trip prompted committee members to ask staff to contact the school district to clarify when the city will waive facility fees under Resolution 1460 (08/21/2023).
The Brentwood Public Works Committee discussed a miscommunication March 13 after a middle school scheduled an ice-skating outing and there was confusion about whether the school owed rink and skate rental fees.
Staff and committee members said the city has a prior resolution (identified in the meeting as Resolution 1460, adopted 08/21/2023) that grants a staff member authority to waive fees for certain PTO events; committee members said that language does not clearly extend to general school-district uses. The committee asked staff to contact the school district to clarify the procedures and to return to the committee or Board of Aldermen if a formal change is needed.
Staff said the event’s gross cost (ice rental plus skate rental at full price) would be about $1,100 and that the city’s practice for some school outings has been to invoice after the event, a workflow staff said it has used since about 2017. Committee members noted private schools and affiliated organizations sometimes follow different procedures and suggested staff develop clear guidance so a single annual outing does not become frequent, unscheduled use of city facilities.
Chairman Wege and other committee members thanked staff for being flexible during the situation and said they would set up a call with the school district to “get to the bottom of what happened” and determine whether staff-level waivers are sufficient or whether a board-level clarification is required.
No formal vote was taken; staff will follow up with the district and report back.
