Facility Use Guidelines: Youth Groups

Eugene School District 4J

Youth Organization Use of Facilities Guidelines

July 1, 2010

District 4J sites will be made available at minimal cost, under capable and responsible adult supervision, to local youth organizations approved by the District and on record with the Facilities Management Office for the organization’s official activities for school-age children. The permitted activities must be of an educational, recreational, or civic nature. Partisan, political, parochial, or sectarian activities are not allowed under these guidelines, but may be permitted at Class II, III, or IV rates under the District’s Community Use of School Facilities Guidelines.

Youth organizations wishing to use facilities must complete District 4J’s application form 7-B at the school where facility use is desired. After approval and scheduling has occurred at the school and prior to the event, the 7-B form must be forwarded to the Facilities Management Office. If charges are involved, a rental agreement will be prepared and billing will be done by the Facilities Management Office. (For more details, see Community Use of School Facilities Guidelines.)

Youth organizations wishing to use District 4J’s facilities and who wish to meet on a consistent basis during the year must adhere to the following requirements:

I. Requirements for Class I Approved Status.

A. The user group must adhere to all School District 4J policies. In addition, the group’s local, regional (if any), and national (if any) policies and practices must comply with all District 4J policies.

B. The user group/activity must provide incorporation papers and meet School District 4J insur­ance requirements.

C. The user group must offer scholarships to low income students.

D. All coaches/leaders must be unpaid volunteers. (If coaches or leaders are paid, Class II rates will apply.)

E. The user group must accept all youth regardless of level of skill and all must be allowed to participate in every event or activity.

G. User group must have funding sources besides fees from participants.

II. Procedures and Priorities for Scheduling Use of 4J Gyms and Ball Fields.

The intent: To make all 4J sites available for use, as much as possible, by the community in a way that is as inclusive and respectful as possible. To honor the historical partnerships 4J has, including recognizing the beneficial trade of sites. To support use of 4J sites by the community, prioritizing programs that serve and accept children regardless of level of skill and ability to pay. To recognize that providing child care for students in their home schools where they feel safe is a very high priority.

A. School District programs have first priority. Approved youth organizations must prepare and coordinate their schedules so there is no conflict with school sponsored activities or with each other. School sponsored activities will be considered to be those scheduled by the individual school for activities associated with and for the benefit of students enrolled at that school.

Kidsports, as the largest user of 4J gyms and ball fields will be responsible for scheduling all Class I youth athletic groups who have requested use of 4J facilities under these guidelines. All teams must be treated equally as to the number of practice hours and games each may schedule within the available time slots which have been identified by the schools and conveyed to the requesting youth groups.

Practice and game schedules must be submitted to the school principal or designee, usually a Regional Coordinator, prior to the start of activities and must be posted in a conspicuous location at each gym. This is necessary to confirm who the authorized user is at any given time. For field use, a 4J facility use form or a letter issued by Kidsports must be carried by each team coach or authorized field user to confirm authorization to be on a given field.

B. City of Eugene and River Road Park District use that is provided for in the respective City and River Road Park/District 4J reciprocal agreements will be honored first, i.e., parks and rec. programs of long standing. The City will also retain the right to choose a 3-hour block of time on Saturday and a 5-hour block of time on Sunday and the gyms they wish to use in each middle school building.

C. District sponsored or contracted child care site users will also be honored first as in II.B above. Regional Coordinators will work with child care site users to support them in using a large open space, which could include a gym, for part of their time, leaving some gym time for other uses when possible. Child care users are required to have use of such space for at least one hour per day.

D. The youth organizations will have second priority on use of 4J gyms and ball fields if their requests are submitted and scheduled as specified. Exception: youth organizations will have priority ahead of activities associated with and for the benefit of students in attendance at schools other than the site in question.

Restrictions. No 4J gyms may be used for outdoor sports regardless of weather condition. When facilities are closed due to weather or other hazardous conditions and school activities are canceled, youth organization activities will also be canceled. This situation will generally continue into the weekend. The Facilities Management Office will decide the availability of school facilities on weekends when the above conditions exist.

Indoor soccer is not a 4J approved sport and will only be allowed in 4J gyms under the follow­ing conditions:

1. The gym to be used has no bleachers.

2. The school agrees to allow such use.

3. Only indoor soccer balls are used (nerf or tennis-like balls).

4. The user agrees to pay rent at Class II, III, or IV rates.

E. Youth athletic group area reps will fill out one 7-B form per school. Attached to the 7-B will be a list of pertinent coaches and a schedule of when each coach will hold practices. The 7-B and initial practice schedule will be provided prior to any use taking place on 4J facilities. Approximately two weeks into the season, a revised and updated coach list and usage schedule will be provided which will include the game schedule as well.

F. Authorized youth group requests for elementary or middle school use must be filed with the appropriate Regional Coordinator by August 24th in order to receive priority scheduling. Additional requests for site use may be made after that date, but other scheduled users will not be “bumped.”

G. Approved youth organizations will have priority in scheduling. Youth sports organizations as a whole will receive the same number of hours as they received in past year/s (or more if available and approved at quarterly meetings). Regional Coordinators and youth sports repre­sentatives will use the formula listed in II.H below, using projected numbers of teams.

H. Assigning time for approved youth organizations.

To the extent that space and/or fields are available, practice time is requested at each school in the form of hours per week based on the number of teams at the school and the practice allotment per team using the following criteria:

-Indoor gyms: Elementary - Each team receives 3 hours per week of shared gym or 1.5 hours per week. If only one team is formed at a school they will receive 3 hours/wk.

-Indoor gyms: Middle Schools - Each team receives 4.5 hours per week of shared gym or 2.25 hours per week. If only one team is formed at a school they will receive 4.5 hours/week.

-Volleyball teams cannot share the gym with 1^st-2^nd grade basketball teams.

-Outdoor fields: Elementary - Each team receives 3 hours per week.

-Outdoor fields: Middle School - Each team receives 4.5 hours per week.

-Maximum practice hours available:

Indoors 27.5 hours/week per gym and outdoors 27.5 hours/week per sports field based on 3:30-9:00 PM practice times.

Two teams will be scheduled per gym at the start of the season. Youth sports teams may request more practice time at the beginning of the season. If available, they will receive the time they request.

I Groups that have Class I status retain that status year around, including the fee structure. District 4J will meet periodically with users to review the impact of increased usage on gyms and other facilities. Approved groups that would like to expand existing programs (add addi­tional teams requiring more time) or add a new program (new category of use) on 4J sites will bring their request to a quarterly site use meeting as far in advance of the proposed implementa­tion as possible. Time allows for information gathering and discussion about availability, condition, and maintenance of sites. After consultation with the users, 4J may set an upper limit on the use of gyms and other facilities.

J. Curriculum & Maintenance Considerations. Gyms being used by P.E. teachers for pro­grams with gymnastic equipment and wrestling mats will not be used for after school activities during that part of the scheduled curriculum, in order to protect the equipment and respect the time of the teacher.

P.E. teachers and staff will have one coordinator from each user group to work with regarding gym equipment and appropriate order for the teacher’s class the next day. If equipment is not in working order when the teacher comes in the morning, he/she will have one person to call and talk to. If the teachers or coordinators are not satisfied with the outcome of this conversa­tion, they may follow the process for resolving conflicts.

During the summer and breaks there are special considerations that restrict 4J site use.

III. Supervision.

A. All youth organizations must provide supervisors for each building. Coaches may function as supervisors for some practices.

B. A supervisor must not be paid by both organizations at the same time to do two jobs simulta­neously, or paid double for doing one job.

C. For Saturday and Sunday programs held in District 4J’s gyms, games will not be allowed to be played unless adequate supervision is provided. Periodic checks will be made by representa­tives of District 4J to assure compliance. If adequate supervision is not provided, that building may be closed to the user for the remainder of the season.

D. A paid supervisor will be present at middle schools and selected elementary schools during practice times for youth sports organizations as well as during games during the busiest season of the year: December 1st to spring break. The District will pay the cost of supervision during youth sports organizations practice sessions using proceeds from building rentals. User groups will continue to pay for supervision during games.

E. The coach or supervisor is responsible for the supervision of the facilities being used during the time he or she is scheduled for using the facilities. Participants must not be allowed in the building unless their coach or supervisor is present. It is recommended that coaches and/or supervisors be at the gyms at least ten minutes before their scheduled use time. Only partici­pants should be admitted in the building during practices.

F. On the days when games are played in the District’s indoor facilities, a supervisor must be provided by the sponsoring youth sports organization. This supervisor will deal with conflicts, should keep non-players off the gym playing floors, and will keep food and drink out of the gym. The supervisor must be an adult that spectators and participants can readily identify.

IV. Custodial Work.

Normal custodial work will be taken care of by the Eugene School District. If there is extra custo­dial work required that cannot be taken care of by the regular custodian’s hours, the using organiza­tion will be charged for the service at the rate established by District 4J as listed in the current District 4J Community Use of School Facilities Guidelines.

V. Use of Equipment.

Youth organizations will furnish their own equipment including goal posts for spring soccer. If District 4J equipment is used, a fee will be charged for its use. Schools must pay for repairs or replacement of equipment and supplies depleted by the user from the school’s own budget, and so may bill the user directly for an appropriate amount to cover such costs. Otherwise, billing will be done by Facilities Management.

VI. Fees.

Intent: To generate sufficient funds to help support the District in adequately maintaining its sites for enduring school and community use.

A. The fee will be $5 per participant per sport per season

At the end of each sport season, youth groups will provide to Facilities Management the num­ber of participants at each 4J school. Schools where games are played will also be identified including the number of gyms or fields used at each site.

B. The monies will be used as follows:

1. Reimbursement for custodial and other supplies used.

2. Two dollars of the total $5 fee will be used for capital improvements.

C. The District and the specific organization will reach a mutual agreement on how the money will be distributed to the District.

1. It could be given directly to the District as a cash payment.

2. The District could agree that the user will retain some of the money to do work on District facilities if that work is approved by Facilities Management in advance, and if the organiza­tion is able to track the expenditures in a separate account.

VII. Fund Raising Events.

Youth organizations will be charged at Class II, III, or IV rates for fund raising events held in or on 4J facilities. Groups sponsoring tournaments or activities with teams or participants from outside the local area must pay Class II rates for such usage.

VIII. Water Bottles.

No water bottles are allowed unless there is a doctor’s note (medical reason) for water bottles to be in the gym.

IX. Concessions.

The general guideline will not allow food concessions in 4J schools. However, there can be exceptions to the guideline. A group using the gym facility must give their approval along with the building principal in order for concessions to be sold. When an outside concessionaire selling food and/or drink is approved by the District and user group, then they will be charged at Class IV rates (only for the space they rent) and will provide a supervisor who will keep food and drink out of the gym. Other items such as tournament t-shirts, team photos, or other children’s souvenirs are permitted to be sold by the user group.

No groups are authorized to use 4J facilities under the umbrella of another group such as Kidsports or the YMCA. Only authorized user group personnel may sign 7-B forms.

XI. Liability.

Youth organizations shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Eugene School District 4J, its officers, agents, and employees from any claims, actions, liability or costs, including attorney fees and other costs of defense, arising out of or in any way related to the use and occupancy allowed under these guidelines and arising from the sole or joint negligence of the using group, its mem­bers, officers, agents, coaches, spectators, or invitees.

The using group shall be responsible for any loss, damage, or destruction of its own property, equipment, and materials used in conjunction with its activities. In addition, the using group shall be responsible for any loss, damage, or destruction of property belonging to School District 4J or a third party caused by the sole or joint negligence of the using group. Any exception or waiver of these requirements shall be subject to review and approval by 4J’s Risk Manager.

XII. Security.

Because of security systems located in School District buildings, staff members with security control numbers should be on duty as supervisors whenever possible.

XIII. Inappropriate Conduct.

The superintendent, building principal/designee, Facilities Management Director or designee, and supervisors have the authority to ask any coach, supervisor or other person to leave the premises for abusive language or conduct not appropriate for working with children. Failure to comply with the request may cause the using group to lose the right to use District 4J facilities.

XIV. Government Rules and Regulations.

All users of Eugene School District facilities shall comply with all federal, state, and municipal equal opportunity laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination.

XV. District 4J Policy Rules and Regulations.

Youth organizations are responsible for knowing and enforcing all conduct and use rules and regulations of the District and of the facility being used. Failure to comply with any of the rules and regulations stated in this document may result in the forfeiture of the right of a youth organi­zation to use District 4J facilities. These policy guidelines, revised July 1, 2010 will be in effect until terminated or revised by the Eugene School District. School District 4J is responsible for reasonable interpretations of the guidelines.