Schools, city look to share recreation sites

FAYETTEVILLE — The School District and city are looking to cooperate on ways to enhance residents’ access to recreational facilities.

The School Board on Thursday discussed a proposal to look for opportunities for shared-use agreements with the City Council that would make the district’s facilities more available to the public.

Board members had no complaints about the proposal. They likely will vote on whether to adopt it at their next meeting March 28.

The council adopted a resolution Feb. 19 declaring its intention to pay more to facilitate improved access to recreation facilities through shared-use agreements with the district.

Convenient access to recreational facilities has been identified as residents’ highest priority in the city’s Imagine Tomorrow’s Parks surveys, and expanding access to current facilities will improve public health at a substantially lower cost to taxpayers than new construction, the board’s resolution states.

“This doesn’t establish any new agreements,” said board member Keaton Smith. “It just builds on a long history of partnership and existing shared-use agreements that we have with the city.”

The district already has shared-use agreements with the city, such as one making

school playgrounds available for the public’s use after school hours, said Justin Eichmann, board president.

“The idea here is to expand on that a little bit,” Eichmann said.

The proposal comes at a time the district and city are considering a partnership to purchase Lewis Park. The University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture owns the 27-acres near Asbell Elementary School, which the city leases. The lease was set to expire last summer but was extended another year as city and district officials work out a partnership.

The School Board and City Council held a joint meeting Feb. 6, at which time both sides agreed to look for ways to work together on shareduse agreements.

The proposal states the board must evaluate increased opportunities for access against the associated costs of operation and maintenance before approving any shared-use agreement.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Students from Woodland Junior High School hold signs Thursday before the start of a work session outside the Fayetteville Public Schools McClinton Administration Building. The School Board declared last month no human-imagery mascots would be allowed in the district. A committee has been at work since December examining how and when to move forward with replacing the Indian mascot at Ramay Junior High School and the cowboy mascot at Woodland Junior High School.