School Board Wants To Phase In Fees For County To Use Facilities

The Oconee County Board of Education pushed back at least slightly Monday evening on a proposal by school administrators to begin charging the county Parks and Recreation Department fees for use of school athletic facilities on July 1.

School Superintendent Jason Branch, as part of a discussion of a new Joint Use Agreement between the county and Oconee County Schools, said he was seeking Board input on the length of a new agreement and on whether the Board wants to begin charging the county a fee for use of school athletic facilities.

The Board took no vote, but the consensus of those who spoke up was that the schools should begin charging a fee but it should be phased in, probably over three years, and that the new contract also should run no longer than three years.

The Board did not give any indication whether it thought the fees proposed by Branch and his staff were the right ones, but it also did not suggest that those fees were too high.

School Board Member Tim Burgess pushed back hard on the suggestion that the attempt to begin charging the county for use of school sports facilities was connected to the dispute between the school system and the county over other issues, including roundabouts on Malcom Bridge Road.

Burgess praised the school administrators for looking at the costs of the county’s use of the sports fields and coming forward with what he called “professional work behind the scenes” to improve the operation of the school system.

For more on this story, with a video of the Board of Education meeting, please go to Oconee County Observations.