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Board tables facility-use policy to explore special category for service groups
Summary
Board members asked staff to return with proposals to add a subcategory for service organizations—such as scouts—when the district revises Policy 707, the use-of-school-facilities policy; the item was tabled for further committee review.
The Mill Creek Township School District board of directors discussed revisions to Policy 707, the district's use-of-school-facilities policy, focusing on whether long-standing service organizations such as local Boy Scout and Girl Scout units should be placed in a separate subcategory for fee and in-kind considerations. The board tabled the item for further committee work.
Board members and administrators said the goal was to be "fair and equitable" in categorizing external groups that use school facilities. "We might have to have a subcategory, another category for such service groups," said a board presenter during the Policy 707 discussion. Board director Mister Brink recounted decades of projects Troop 52 has completed for district schools, including outdoor classrooms, picnic tables, benches and storage work, and urged the board to consider in-kind contributions as part of the facilities equation.
Directors asked administration to return to committee with a proposal. Suggestions included requiring community service organizations that seek a preferential category to sign an annual agreement listing planned projects and to provide an annual report documenting in-kind service provided. Board director Mister Lindner asked that the plan include a reconciliation process so the business office could verify in-kind value in relation to waived rental fees.
By motion, the board voted to table the Policy 707 revision and asked that staff bring a clear proposal back to the committee of the whole in June so any category changes could be implemented by July 1 if the board approves them.
The discussion acknowledged the district's existing facility-request process in FMX, which requires certificate-of-insurance uploads and includes a reference to Policy 707. Administrators told the board that some longtime users had begun uploading insurance information only in recent years and that historical arrangements may predate FMX implementation.
The board did not adopt any policy language at the meeting; it moved to continue deliberations in committee and return with recommended text and administrative procedures.
