The Board of Education for Galesburg CUSD 205 held another lengthy discussion Monday night over rental fees for different district facilities.
Whereas the conversations last month were in regard to the hourly rental prices and the categories of groups associated with each price, the talks this month were largely focused on whether making the district’s facilities available at all was the goal.
Concerns were raised that by lowering the hourly rental fee, or even instituting a flat fee for a block of time, there would be scheduling issues with outside entities renting spaces used for student extracurricular activities — prompting Board President Courtney Rodriguez to ask what the point of renting the facilities was.
“If they’re used a lot, then why are we renting them out?” Rodriguez asked Monday night. “That’s where I’m at now. I want everybody to be able to enjoy them but if it’s such a hassle and it’s such a fight every single month because nothing can be straight and nobody can agree with it, then what are we doing it for?”
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Board member Rodney Phelps, who is a member of the building and grounds committee, suggested that the facilities be made only available to District 205 students.
“I’m at the point of ‘why do we rent our facilities?’ It’s our facilities and we ought to be proud of them. If there’s an outlier, so be it. But I think we’re ‘beating something’ that we probably know that we’ve probably just come to the answer.”
District Superintendent John Asplund told those in attendance that the relook at the facility rental agreement was done years ago to make the Future Streaks, Junior Steaks, and JFL. That agreement was approved last year but then created a new problem with the Galesburg American Legion baseball team.
However, if the district chooses to eliminate the policy it would prohibit the Future Streaks, Junior Streaks, and JFL from using the district’s facilities. Luke Feeney, the district’s legal representation, told the board that carving out exceptions could put the district in hot water for not being more inclusive.
There was some discussion about limiting when facilities could be rented or even prohibiting the renting of spaces, such as the Hegg Performing Arts Center or Thiel Gym, from being rentable.
No action was taken on Monday. More discussions are expected before a decision is made on making adjustments to the current facility rental policy or eliminating the policy altogether.
