School Board Committee Tables Facility Fee For Non-Profits

The Batavia School Board on Tuesday tabled an agenda item that could mean extra charges for some kids groups.

The School Board discussed charging fees to not-for-profit Batavia student organizations for using school buildings.  Some of these organizations don’t have any direct affiliation with .

The Batavia Pinners Wrestling Club, and the Boys Scout and Girl Scout troops are some of the groups that would be affected by the fee increase.

Before a formal vote, the board asked the finance committee to research how many organizations this will actually affect as well as the extra costs they pick up when allowing these groups to use the district's facilities.

The recommendation to apply the fees did not sit well with the Pinners club. Many of the club's members and their parents filled the meeting space last night to stand up against the fees.

Pinners Coach Steve Jordan spoke to the Board about the fee. He said the Board shouldn’t charge the club since it's an extension of the middle school wrestling team.

And parents whose children are in the program have paid for the facility through taxes, he said.

Charging this fee would increase the wrestling club's fee by 35 percent, Jordan said. He added that the wrestling club raised money for the high school’s new score board in the past.

Board Talks Logic on Fees

If the district charges these organizations, the groups will be less likely to do fundraisers to improve school facilities because they will not want to or will not be able to, Board Member Kristin Behmer said.

The wrestling team’s carbon footprint is minimal during the week, Jordan said.  The team doesn’t need heat during practice nor does the custodial staff clean the mats. And the custodial staff is also there cleaning the building Monday through Thursday until 11 p.m.  

“I don’t have a problem charging if the people using the building are causing us to incur additional expense, but if it's an expense we’d be paying anyway, why not allow people to use it (for free)?,” said Board Member Kathleen Roberts.

The board isn’t trying to make money with this fee, they’re trying to cover their costs, Board Member Joseph Purpura said.

School Board President Ron Link struggled with the decision to charge non-for-profit organizations to use the district's facilities.

“We don’t want to take opportunities from students—hopefully we’ll be able to get this rectified," Link said.