The board promotes the concept of school buildings and facilities serving as a center for community activities. Therefore, groups or organizations in the community will be allowed to use school buildings and/or facilities, provided all requirements and conditions outlined in this policy are met.
Charges for community use of school buildings and/or facilities are based on the Rental Fee Schedule outlined int his policy. The district reserves the right to adjust the schedule should extraordinary effort be required to accommodate the actual usage.
Outdoor school sites and playgrounds may be used, as available, at no charge, however, organizations or groups using the sites and playgrounds shall have the approval of the appropriate administrator and shall have followed the scheduling and application procedure.
An application requesting the use of school facilities, equipment, and other school property shall be filed with the Facilities Scheduler at least one(1) week prior to the date requested for use. The Facilities Scheduler will coordinate all requests with the Office of the Principal in the building concerned.
Building Use Priority:
The administration will determine the assignment of specific facilities. In deciding whether or not to grant the use of a facility, the administration will consider the following priority of use and the fee arrangement for the use of school facilities:
- Civil Defense Emergencies.
- School sponsored programs and activities.
- School affiliated groups and certain school sponsored activities that require added personnel. (Includes school-recognized activities sponsored by booster organizations and alumni gatherings.)
- Red Cross or other community acknowledged emergency use (depending on available alternatives, this may have a higher priority than listed.)
- Adult Education activities co-sponsored by STC and the Iowa Valley Community College.
- Official School Wellness Program Activities for School Employees.
- Youth Groups of an educational, recreational, or patriotic nature that are generally non-restrictive in membership or participation. Examples include: 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and similar organizations. Generally, activities open to all youth will be given priority to those available to a smaller membership group.
- Non-profit Community organizations and individuals and an all employee group (other than official Wellness activity) for which no fee is charged.
- Non-profit group and individual’s activities for which a fee is charged AND profit-making Commercial Enterprises activities judged acceptable by the administration.
Other Cost Considerations:
- The administration shall determine when facilities fees should be designated for the activity fund or the operating fund. On rare occasions, agreed upon in advance by the administration, the fee may be modified by accepting an in-kind contribution.
- Costs will be doubled for non-school uses on holidays and holiday weekends.
- An ‘on call’ fee may be assessed for scheduling of facilities “in case of inclement weather” even if the facilities are not used.
- Facilities may not be scheduled for use by individuals or groups who have past-due accounts for past facility fees or assessments.
- Rental of facilities may be denied for selected occasions, such as holidays, if necessary, school personnel are not available.
- Costs are added for custodial staff, regardless of need.
Facilities will not normally be used unless an adult resident of the district signs an agreement to pay the required fees, to accept liability for all damages and personal injury resulting from and during the usage, and to adhere to regulations established by the administration.
School equipment or facilities will not normally be rented or used unless a school employee or other adult, judged to be qualified by the administration, is available to take responsibility for supervision. When costs are involved, the organization or individual arranging for use shall pay for supervision. If non-school sponsored student groups are permitted to use facilities by virtue of having an open forum, they may be required to pay the cost of adult supervision. Employees of the school who are paid extra for supervision of facilities must be paid by the district and the district may be reimbursed by the organization/individual using the facilities.
Whether or not a fee is charged, a non-school sponsored renter or group using the building agrees to restore to original condition any unwarranted destruction of property. Failure to maintain facilities will result in the organization's loss of rental priviledges. Administration shall be the sole judge of unwarranted destruction of property.
Restrictions on Use of Facilities:
Outside organizations using the school buildings and/or facilities must adhere to the following expectations/restrictions:
- All school district property is tobacco free.
- There shall be no alcoholic liquors or beverages, or illegal drugs brought to or consumed in the building or on the grounds.
- It will be the responsibility of the organization using school facilities to refuse admission to the building or area being used by them, to person or persons who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Use of facilities must not be contrary to public interest as determined by the Board or by law.
- Except for school use, equipment will not normally be permitted for use outside the school district.
- At least one adult, acceptable to the administration, will be present during the time the facilities are in use.
- The use of school equipment and facilities is restricted for purposes accepted by the administration as being appropriate. Appropriate will include a judgment of community acceptability, timing, etc.
- Use of facilities may be denied if the use would cause the district to require a school employee to work on a Sunday morning or on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, the weekend that includes Good Friday, Memorial Day weekend, July 4th, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving Day and the weekend that follows, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
- The administration may deny and/or change availability use of specific facilities when it might interfere with higher priority use, when it might interfere with required maintenance or cleaning, when safety or supervision provisions cause concern, when the nature of the activity causes concern or is not clearly defined, or when energy conservation indicates the fees would be insufficient to cover costs (as during the winter break).
- No motorcycles, mopeds, snowmobiles, off-road vehicles, or other vehicles will be permitted on school property except in designated traffic areas or by prior written permission of the administration. Recreational use of vehicles will not be approved.
Fee Schedule and Administrative Regulations for Facilities:
The Superintendent shall cause regulations and further restrictions to be established regarding the use of facilities. In addition, the Superintendent shall cause a fee schedule to be generated for the hourly (or other time period) use of facilities. The schedule should consider special restrictions and costs, if any, to include use of:
A. Group I – (Free Use)
Functions that are school sponsored by the building activity or parent group will be provided free use of school facilities, except for certain activities requiring the use of the kitchens, auditoriums, stages, gyms, or other special areas involving extra operational costs. (Schools shall be granted exemptions from extra operational costs, with the exception of kitchen use, in the following amounts when the purpose of the use relates to student welfare or fundraising for that school.) Fundraising and school-sponsored functions shall also qualify for Group I status.
Local youth service programs (for meetings only) – including, but not limited to, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church, 4-H, Campfire, etc. The use of school facilities for town meetings, political caucuses, elections, and voter registration shall be free, except that charges shall be assessed for actual custodial overtime, including fringe benefits.
Such hours shall be allocated at the discretion of the school principal and so noted on the Application Form for Building Usage. The principal shall determine whether or not a building activity falls in the Group I category; however, in the case of activities not sponsored by the school or building parent group, the decision regarding Group I eligibility shall be made by the Activity Director or Director of Finance and Operations. When a school-sponsored or parent group-sponsored activity involves the use of facilities in another school building, the principal of the host school shall recommend whether or not the schedule charge shall be assessed for any additional staff from the host school needed to conduct the activity.
B. Group II – (Minimal Charge)
Activities of education-related groups, tax-supported educational institutions conducting educational or recreational programs, business/industry-sponsored recreational groups, public information organization, governmental agencies, neighborhood recreational activities, church organizations and political meetings not supporting specific candidates or state or national programs shall be charged in accord with Group II schedule. Each group is limited to three dates of Group II weekend use each school year. Any non-school sponsored organization-charging admission or a fee to participate qualifies in Group III.
Special Circumstances – The Chamber of Commerce, Central Rivers AEA, Area Community College and approved community service groups may be exempted from charges for rental of classrooms, media centers, to include the High School auditorium for free public service activities that exclude meals, indoor sports, or fundraising.
C. Group III – (Recovery of Full Costs)
Nonpublic schools, political groups, community fund-raising activities or functions that have a profit motive shall be charged with the Group III fee schedule unless the function is cosponsored by the district. School employees are not entitled to free use of facilities when functioning as private entrepreneurs (e.g., private lessons, tutoring lessons). Each group is limited to three dates of GROUP III weekend use each school year. Any non-school sponsored group charging admission or a fee to participate qualifies in Group III.
NOTE: The policy on the use of buses is contained in the Auxiliary Services 700 Series.
Keys/Fobs:
Only adults approved by the administration will be permitted to check out a key fob for access to a school facility. Only the individual who receives the fob may use that fob. The fob is non-transferable without the express approval of the administration. Fobs may not be duplicated. A fob must be returned, or the individual may be required to pay for the changing of the locks and issuance of new fobs.
Walking the Hallways:
The administration may, without fee, designate certain building hallways as available for walking by the general public. Use of hallways will be restricted to times when it will not interfere with the educational program and when the building is already open with personnel on duty.
Community Use of Facilities - Chart of Rental Fees
Listed below are the current district facilities charges for Community Use of School Facilities. The district reserves the right to adjust the schedule should extraordinary effort be required to accommodate the usage.
Hourly Rate Schedule
A school employed food service worker is required to be on duty whenever kitchen appliances are in use for meal preparation. The cost is in addition to the stipulated rental fee.
Custodial fees may apply at a minimum of $25/hr or $100 flat cost per event for Group II and/or Group III for Saturday and Sunday rentals.
(April 18, 1983; July 15, 1991; November 15, 1993; June 17, 1995; November 20, 1995; March 16, 1998; July 7, 2003; April 21, 2008; July 18, 2011; June 23, 2014; March 2, 2020; July 8, 2021)