School building use fees have some concerned

PALMER — A new fee schedule for using Mat-Su Borough School District facilities has some constituents confused and at least two Borough Assembly members scratching their heads.

At a joint assembly/school board meeting Tuesday, Assemblyman Tom Kluberton said a number of his constituents have wondered how feasible it is to hold community meetings in area schools with the new fees the district charges to use its facilities. Kluberton represents residents in the Trapper Creek, Willow, Talkeetna and Sheep Mountain areas.

He said some folks in Talkeetna are hoping the city can hold onto its former library building as a meeting hall, concerned using schools as meeting places might be too expensive.

“I really appreciate any effort that we can have to making this whole thing more comprehensible,” Kluberton said.

In addition to charging more for using district facilities, Assemblywoman Michelle Church said many are confused about how much a nonprofit group or organization could end up paying to hold a meeting at a school.

“There’s a lot of ‘Nobody knows what’s going on,’” Church said.

Superintendent George Troxel went over the fee schedule at Tuesday’s meeting. Schools cannot be used for commerce, he said. But nonprofit groups can use the facilities after hours for free, providing the building’s maintenance personnel haven’t gone home.

In most schools, this means from the final bell until 9:30 p.m. — a half hour before janitors leave.

Troxel said janitors have to be around to lock up when everyone’s gone or as a person who knows the building in case a fire alarm is accidentally tripped or a sprinkler head broken. On weekends, though, the fee is $75 per hour with a four-hour minimum. That goes up to $135 for events that draw more than 500 people.

Groups wishing to hold meetings should contact the school they’re hoping to use. They can find a form for after-hours use on the school’s Web site. Principals approve all after-hours use.

“We did revise our fee schedule last year,” Troxel said. “We were running a deficit and having to pay for custodial coverage of buildings.”

Troxel didn’t know Wednesday exactly how much the fees increased. But, he said, it has nothing to do with the school district’s contract with NANA Management Services for custodial work. That contract was in place before the fees were changed.

“I know, just my recollection, is through the years we went from no charges to charging for electricity to adding custodian charges into that,” he said.

It’s a system that’s looked at periodically to ensure fees are reasonable, but also that school funds are going toward education and not subsidizing community meetings. And, he suspects, this year’s fee schedule isn’t the final word.

“After it’s been in effect for a year we’ll review that … and make adjustments where they need to, just so the program can pay for itself,” Troxel said.

At least one school board member is in favor of revising the fees.

Noting that NANA gets $20 per hour for custodial services, Jim Colver said, “I don’t know why you need to charge $75 per hour when NANA only gets 20.”

Troxel said previously in Tuesday’s meeting that the fee also pays for leaving the lights on and keeping the heaters running at a reasonable temperature. They’re turned down on the weekend. Those costs aren’t insignificant, he said.

Schools also charge $10 per hour for use of the fields, basically to offset the cost of maintaining them. Those fields are used mainly for sports leagues.

That’s really the only reason to keep the grass mowed, he said. Some schools, with less summertime activity, aren’t kept up as well as others.

As to whether or not folks are allowed to bring kids by to play after hours, Troxel said that’s something the school district is in favor of. The issue arises with fencing, which often blocks access to parking lots, leaving folks without a place to park while their kids play.