New fee schedule charges local youth groups for use of Puyallup School District facilities

New hourly fees for using Puyallup School District facilities are forcing some local youth nonprofit groups to look elsewhere for meetings and activities.

An email sent out by the Puyallup School District on Aug. 2 alerted community members about a new fee schedule and category list for the 2017-18 school year, which the school board passed in June.

The Facility Use Fee and Price Schedule classifies groups into Classes A, B, C, D and E. Class A includes parent-teacher organizations, school booster clubs, league and state tournaments, Communities in Schools, staff unions/associations, school site councils, or other nonprofit organizations directly supporting the Puyallup School District. Class B includes youth nonprofit groups with 90 percent or more participation from students residing in Puyallup School District boundaries. This includes groups such as youth athletic teams, Girl and Boy Scout groups, Campfire, 4H Club, YMCA and YWCA and religious related youth groups that are not affiliated with the district.

Class B groups previously were able to use classrooms, libraries or gyms at no charge, but are now subject to hourly fees.

The change stems from concern from the board over equity and fairness to other nonprofit groups, Puyallup School Board Director Kathy Yang said.

“We found that the policy wasn’t very equitable and the categories weren’t defined clearly,” she said. “We felt it was time to change them so that we could have clearly defined categories that were equitable.”

Where renting a standard classroom used to be free, groups in Class B must now pay $4.25 an hour. That fee changes depending on the type of facility used.

“We’re hoping that it won’t turn any groups away,” Yang said. “We want groups to use our facilities.”

But a leader of one Puyallup nonprofit Class B group who preferred not to be named said he’s already looking into other facilities for meetings instead. He expects his group to pay an extra $500 a year for renting the gym at Karshner Elementary for local meetings. The group will now either have to increase monthly dues of its members or take out of its fundraising. If they come up with the money, they’ll still have to be careful, he said.

“The fee is based on an hourly rate, so we’ll have to be very diligent at making sure we don’t arrive too early or stay too late, lest we be charged extra,” he said.

The fees collected will go into the district’s general fund, which is used to support upkeep and maintenance of buildings. Yang said it costs the district $21 an hour to rent the facilities to groups, and that Class B and Class C nonprofit groups only pay a fraction of that.

“We really want to serve our community but we have to be fiscally responsible for our buildings,” Yang said.

Before the decision was made, Yang said the board researched the classification systems of nearby districts, finding that they had similar schedules.

Sumner School District, for instance, also charges youth groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls and youth athletic teams for using its buildings.

Yang said the district will continue to evaluate the rate of the rental fees moving forward.

This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 11:16 AM with the headline "New fee schedule charges local youth groups for use of Puyallup School District facilities."