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Parks staff propose clearer scholarship eligibility as demand surges
Summary
Parks staff said scholarship demand this year exceeded prior years and proposed adopting school free/reduced-lunch eligibility to determine discounts (75% for reduced, 100% for free), while acknowledging privacy and homeschooled cases require further work. The board asked staff to research data-sharing approaches and return with options.
Ryan told the board the Parks & Rec scholarship program has seen unusually high demand this year and that staff have been operating with a largely "no-questions-asked" policy for requests. "We've had crazy, crazy demand this year," he said, and proposed adopting a clear eligibility method used elsewhere: verifying free or reduced lunch status at school as the basis for automatic discounts (75% for reduced, 100% for free).
Board members raised implementation and privacy questions. One member asked what to do about homeschooled children; Ryan recommended a case-by-case approach. Another member warned that the school district may not share identifiable lists and said, "We can't even let people in our own district know who's on free and reduced lunch." Staff said they would examine how other cities obtain eligibility confirmation without compromising privacy and bring a recommended policy back to a future meeting.
The discussion emphasized balancing program clarity and accessibility with privacy protections and operational feasibility. The board asked staff to research models (city examples were cited) and to return with concrete options and proposed language for the scholarship policy.
