Local community organizations, youth sports teams, businesses and other groups will now have to pay for the use of Great Neck Public Schools facilities as the Board of Education ended its policy of free access at Monday night’s meeting.
The board introduced a sliding scale of fees for the use of auditoriums, classrooms and athletic facilities, citing budgetary pressures, the cost of maintenance and the desire to protect funding for instructional programs. The fees will vary based on a group’s nonprofit or profit status, ties to the school district and fees charged to members, among other considerations.
“This is not a money-making venture,” said Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dolan. “The costs we pass on to groups represent the costs we have to pay.”
The fee schedule, which range from no charge for parent-teacher groups and nonprofits charging less than $25 for services to $1,435 per hour for businesses seeking to rent a high school auditorium, drew criticism from parents and youth group leaders concerned about the costs to their organizations.
Jack Lipsky of the Great Neck Baseball League said most of his players attend yeshiva, not Great Neck public schools – which makes the league liable for higher fees under the adopted fee schedule.
The group uses athletic fields at Great Neck North and South, and Lipsky said he had been told the change would cost his group $6,000.
Lipsky’s request to have the fee waived was not accepted by the board, but Dolan emphasized that he would meet affected groups and work to find solutions on a case-by-case basis.
“We will work with groups. It is not to our advantage to destroy these programs, but we cannot continue to give the fields away for free,” Dolan said.
The fee plan divides groups into three classes. Class I groups, which face no fee, include parent-teacher organizations, youth groups that cater to Great Neck students and charge less than $25, and some public service groups including village boards of trustees and fire departments. Class II groups, which include nonprofit community organizations that charge more than $25, will be charged a percentage of the base fee on a sliding scale based on the amount they charge for registration. For-profit groups will face the highest fees.
The base fees range from $100 per hour for up to three hours at a non-high school athletic field for nonprofit groups, to the $1,435 per hour fee levied at for-profit groups to rent a high school auditorium for a play, concert or meeting. Board members said the costs are driven by wages, maintenance, supplies, heat, electricity, the space used.
Also at the meeting, Dolan said the board was in the beginning stages of budget talks, which will be subject to public hearings in future meetings.
The state Department of Education released a preliminary estimate of state aid projecting cuts to Great Neck’s school district of about $68,000, or .98 percent, for 2013-2014.
Dolan said that while the board was aware of the report it did not yet have a detailed sense of how the cuts could affect the budget, and that he was working with state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) and state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) to avert any cuts.
At a meeting earlier that night, board members addressed concerns from Great Neck Teachers Association members over potential cuts in the upcoming budget season.
“These are really tough times and we know that,” said board President Barbara Berkowitz. “I’d be lying of I sugar coated and said not to worry.”
Berkowitz praised the working relationship between teachers and administrators in Great Neck, and said the board was dedicated to avoiding the conflict that has characterized relations between the Herricks school board and the Herricks teachers union.
