Ridgewood Concert Band Never Billed for RIH Use

 The Ridgewood Concert Band hasn't been charged for using Ramapo Indian Hills school district facilities for more than four years—with the district missing out on $4,600 in fees that would otherwise be due to it. But school officials aren't putting the blame on the band or looking to collect any back payment.

The Ridgewood Concert Band, in conjunction with a Ramapo music teacher, has been renting a music room at Ramapo High School for "at least the last four years," according to the superintendent's report to the RIH Board of Education Monday night.

But the band hadn't been charged for the usage, which is needed per the facilities use requirements of the district. For the room in question, the Ridgewood Concert Band should have been charged $200 per use, but there were 23 occurrences in which no payment was made to the district, the superintendent said.

Superintendent Dr. C. Lauren Schoen said that the Ridgewood Concert Band was never billed for the use of the room. "It was a clerical error on our part," she told Wyckoff Patch. "The Ridgewood Concert Band absolutely did nothing wrong," and also mentioned that the district was looking at ways to better catch such oversights. To her knowledge, there are no other instances of renters not being billed for use of RIH facilities.

Band music director Chris Wilhjelm said the band had been under the impression it could use the facilities free of charge while providing the district other benefits.

"When we first applied to rehearse at Ramapo, we applied and requested to use the space free of charge," he said, noting that a different administrative team was in place at that time.

"We have continued to make applications in the same manner for all of these years; this past year was not exceptional in any way. Therefore, we had a clear understanding entering the season and there was no failure to collect—the application was made and approved," he said.

The Ridgewood Concert Band does include some Ramapo students, but they do not constitute a majority, with only 10 of the 53 members coming from the district. Some members of the board expressed concern that the taxpayers were footing the bill for residents of other districts.

"Utilization does require a charge," Schoen said.

But because the band does have some RIH students, and it is a non-profit organization that would have difficulty paying the facilities use fee, the question was raised as to who would incur the years of built up costs and what the policy would be going forward.

Business Administrator Frank Ceurvels said the facilities use forms were an issue.

"A lot of times people using the facilities didn't know the charges until after the use," he said.

To combat any confusion, the district has recently been sending out estimates on fees, which was how the oversight was discovered.

"The arrangement was the kids perform and we get tickets," Ceurvels said, though he and other members of the board said such arrangements should not have occurred.

"As part of our agreement we provided what we would consider 'in-kind' considerations to the district: free tickets, unlimited opportunities to attend rehearsals (often with very well-known guest soloists), many performance opportunities etc. We really wanted this to be a great benefit for the Ramapo community, and it is my thought that we succeeded in this and going forward have a terrific season of opportunities planned for the RHS and IHHS students," Wilhjelm said.

Schoen said there's not a single individual at fault, rather, "it's a district-wide policy issue," and the administration will be meeting with the facilities committee to work through the issue with the Ridgewood Concert Band.

Board member Ira Belsky said that moving forward, the Ridgewood Concert Band should be asked to budget funds for next year, with which Schoen agreed.

"Next year they should know that according to the schedule, if it's $200 a day, that's what they're going to be charged for the use," board member Elizabeth Pierce said.

The board cast a preliminary vote against levying the cost of the back payments, but will explore the possibility of a volume discount for the band in the future.

Wilhjelm noted that both schools and nonprofits are in tough economic times, with declining aid to districts and falling contributions to nonprofits. He said the band will work with the district to come to an agreement that serves both entities' needs.

"We are in an incredibly difficult time. Corporate funding has dried up. Foundation support has declined dramatically as the value of portfolios has been hurt. As we move forward, we are all going to be caught in a vise of shrinking assets. How we go forward with the school district, understanding the needs we all have in order to maintain our programs, will be difficult. These discussions remain ahead of us."

Nicholas Loffredo contributed to this report.