Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Unionville revamps fee schedule for school facilities
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> Unionville-Chadds Ford school directors last week approved a revised fee schedule covering use of school facilities to take effect next year. The vote was 6-0. The schedule covers everything from auditorium use to athletic field use.
“We really want to be careful going forward in how we set up the fee schedule,” said John Sanville, schools superintendent. “If the end game is to have a fair fee schedule but also an increase in our ability to have income, what are the market forces around us? The last time we revamped it, it resulted in lower income. The fee schedule was out of whack.”
Jim Whitesel, supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, told the board a committee will be formed later this year to ensure competitive rates for the district’s facilities. He said right now, the classroom rate seems a bit high, and the field rates are comparable to neighboring school districts.
“We want a fair rate that takes everything into consideration,” he said.
Many board members wanted to make sure that Class 3 users, which includes the Unionville Recreation Association, KAU and Southern Chester County Soccer, aren’t charged much for field use. In fact, Gregg Lindner, school director, said he would like the district to get less revenue from Class 3 users.
Whitesel told the board that the new fee schedule would realize a revenue increase of about 10 percent. That would give the district $44,000 in revenue from facilities use.
Said Vic Dupuis, board president: “We will continue to offer (Class 3 users) the opportunity to offset fees with in-kind contributions. Contributions have been well in excess of that in the past, so we don’t anticipate this to be an issue.”
Last year, URA donated more than $46,000 to the district for new softball and baseball scoreboards.
The turf fields were rented just twice last year.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District encourages community use of school facilities when such use is in the public interest, does not conflict with school activities, and is not detrimental to the purpose of schools. Residents, staff members, and community groups can make facility use requests online at the district’s website.