The North Hills Board of Education on July 31 moved forward with a consolidated policy and fee schedule governing use of district buildings and athletic fields, a change the superintendent said is intended to simplify scheduling and better serve youth sports organizations.

Under the revised approach discussed at the meeting, policy 707 combines the previous separate policies for school facilities and athletic fields into one document that establishes four user categories. Category 1 includes North Hills teams, student groups and board-recognized parent groups with at least 85% local participants; Category 3 covers for-profit local groups; Category 4 covers groups that do not fit other categories. The fee schedule is tiered by category; Category 2 (community nonprofit groups as described in the schedule) generally are not charged, except for fields with lights.

District staff described a new option called a season agreement to accommodate youth spring sports — such as lacrosse and soccer — that plan schedules in the fall but previously could not reserve fields until the district’s scheduling window opened in February. The season agreement allows organizations to reserve a set of weekend dates or recurring game days in the fall scheduling cycle and have those slots entered in the district system later.

The board also adopted a curfew and lighting policy for Guadagnino Field and Martarelli Stadium, which are equipped with lights: no inning may begin after 10 p.m., and games must end by 10:30 p.m.; use of lights carries an additional fee. The district indicated that a limited number of organizations may reserve an entire season at a per-game rate rather than an hourly rate; the fee schedule marks that option separately.

Board members approved the facility use fee schedule and related building-and-grounds items during the meeting. The superintendent and buildings-and-grounds liaison said the changes aim to make scheduling more predictable for community leagues and to reduce the administrative burden of holding tentative dates while organizations finalize schedules.

The district indicated the fee schedule will be part of Policy 707 (Use of school facilities and athletic fields) and that the board will annually review fees. The changes take effect with the 2025–26 scheduling cycle; lights and curfew rules will apply immediately when facilities are reserved.