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City proposes shifting school‑facility scheduling and maintenance to school district under updated joint powers agreement
Summary
City staff presented a proposed update to the joint powers agreement with the school district that would return scheduling and maintenance of school athletic fields to the district, citing operational confusion and staff burden.
City staff told the work session they seek to replace a joint powers agreement with the school district that has been in place since 1993 and amended multiple times. The proposed update would transfer scheduling and maintenance responsibility for school facilities (primarily athletic fields) back to the school district.
City staff said the current arrangement requires city staff to schedule field use and manage frequent date conflicts when school calendars and city field-opening dates differ. Susan Johnson, the staff member who currently coordinates field scheduling for the city, described the operational burden: she prepares requests each winter, manually enters permits into the recreation system, and then often must pass on school cancellations when district schedules change.
Under the proposed agreement staff described at the meeting, regular associations would contact the school district for district-owned fields and the city for city-owned fields; two site-specific arrangements would remain unchanged: city management of the disc-golf course and the shared community-van/trailer equipment agreement. Staff said they have discussed the change with the district and expect the district to consider the matter at its board meeting following the council work session.
Councilmembers asked about impacts to associations and policies (for example, drink/alcohol rules at particular sites). Staff said the district and the city would continue to coordinate on rules that apply when a district‑organized event occurs on a city facility and that associations that currently work with both entities are accustomed to the dual system.
Staff said one operational benefit of the change is that a city parks maintenance position currently employed to prepare school fields would be reallocated to city work when district staffing and contractual arrangements change; staff described that reallocation as an offset to maintenance costs for the city.
