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Policy committee proposes new youth‑focused tier for facility use fees
Summary
The committee endorsed separating facility users into school‑sponsored, youth‑focused community, adult community and business groups, and discussed modest facility fees, MOUs for donated facilities and clearer rules for boosters and PTOs.
The West Bend School District Policy Committee on Aug. 19 discussed revisions to Policy 830 (Use of Facilities), including a proposal to split community users into a dedicated youth‑focused tier.
Tim Harder, who the committee identified as overseeing facilities, told the panel that one clear distinction community members requested was whether an event involved youth. He proposed splitting the current Group 2 into two categories: West Bend community groups with youth‑focused events, and other community/adult groups. Harder said that approach would allow the district to keep a three‑tier fee structure "without blowing up the current fee structure" while charging lower facility fees for youth‑focused uses.
Committee members identified examples to illustrate the distinction: school‑sponsored clubs, booster clubs and PTOs would be classified under Group 1; youth sports and camps that are explicitly youth‑focused would fall into the new youth community tier; adult leagues and one‑time community events would sit in the adult community tier; and businesses or users from outside the West Bend community would be classified separately.
Board members stressed the need to document special arrangements for groups that have donated to the district. Several speakers said large donations or facility investments (for example, funding for fields) should be governed by memoranda of understanding that clearly state any access rights and duration of those rights. One committee member suggested handling donations and long‑standing informal agreements on a case‑by‑case basis and formalizing them with MOUs.
On pricing, staff said the proposed schedule overall reduced many rates compared with prior practice, and provided an example that a district gym could be rented for $15 under the proposed structure. Committee members described the new prices as cost‑based rather than revenue‑generating and said the goal was to cover operating costs such as staffing, utilities and wear‑and‑tear.
The committee asked staff to draft revised policy language implementing the youth/community split, place PTOs, boosters and scout units clearly in the school‑sponsored category where appropriate, and identify where MOUs or written agreements should be required. No final vote was taken at the meeting.
