Richmond Community Schools keeps facility-use rules but plans clearer waiver process
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Summary
At a Feb. 13 policy meeting, district staff recommended retaining the current facility-use policy (group A/B/C structure) while directing future fee‑waiver requests to the board for public consideration; insurer Tim Miller warned liability ultimately rests with the district.
The Richmond Community Schools policy committee on Feb. 13 reviewed policy 7510 on use of school facilities and recommended keeping the current group A/B/C fee structure while clarifying how waivers are handled.
Operations staff said the district processes roughly "over 800 requests" a year to use school facilities and that the existing forms and guidelines help treat applicants "fairly and equitably." The policy divides users into group A (RCS and RCS-related partnerships), group B (501(c)(3) civic and community nonprofits) and group C (commercial or outside groups), with different fee treatment for each group.
Tim Miller, introduced by staff as the district's insurer, told the committee the district’s policy is "very strong" but cautioned that "the liability always comes back to you guys" and urged robust liability insurance and careful steps when granting exceptions. Staff said custodial and security requirements are mandatory for most uses and that fee waivers have been handled case-by-case through the superintendent, who then reports waivers to the board.
Several members said keeping the status quo is reasonable for now but asked staff to codify practice so requests for waivers are considered publicly. Staff proposed adding language to the administrative guidelines so that any request to waive fees would require board action at a business meeting and be visible on the public record.
The committee also discussed how partnerships are identified and maintained on a district partner list, and whether fees—last set in 2021—should be reexamined to account for inflation and rising insurance and custodial costs. Operations said fee levels were intended to cover costs rather than generate profit and that custodial staffing constraints sometimes limit the district’s ability to accommodate holiday or out‑of‑hours requests.
Next steps: staff will draft an administrative-guideline change to require that fee-waiver requests be brought to the board for public action and bring revised language back to the policy committee in February.