Ball's rolling on keeping gyms open

The community paid for school gyms, so open them for the community, including on holidays and during vacation breaks, Education Minister Nancy Allan has decreed.

"We are giving school divisions until Jan. 1, 2013, to come into compliance," Allan said Tuesday.

"We believe schools are paid for by public funds -- we want them to be available for community use, when students aren't using them."

Allan could not immediately say how many divisions are not in compliance with the province's policy on community use of schools, which became law in the summer.

The province has been working since the days of Allan's predecessor, Peter Bjornson, to develop uniform policies that would allow community access to school gyms, libraries and other facilities at a break-even cost.

By Jan. 1, Allan said, every division is to have a co-ordinator who handles gym permits, whose name will be readily available on the school division's website.

"We will be following up with all school divisions. What's most important is we level the playing field and have uniform policies," she said.

That includes making school facilities available during holidays and breaks, she said -- during the summer, spring break and over Christmas.

Allan said schools are allowed to recover all costs from users, such as the cost of having a custodian present when a school is not normally open, and to clean up afterwards, but they can't make money from the rentals.

"It's not about making money, it's about cost recovery," she said.

School division officials will decide how late at night they'll keep a gym and a school open, she said. "There's nothing in the legislation that says how late a school can stay open," said Allan.

Most community use occurs weeknight evenings, after school-related activities are done, and when custodians are normally in the school and the lights and heating are on. Users get covered under division insurance policies.

Allan said the accommodation of the community must be reasonable, given that break periods are when schools get a thorough cleaning and major maintenance is scheduled, such as painting or laying a new floor.

School divisions don't have to schedule maintenance at the same time in all schools though, she said.

Principals will still be able to decide when the school is done with the gym each day, Allan acknowledged. "The principal's discretion will be up to the individual school division."

Allan said her assistant deputy minister, who's monitoring compliance, will be talking to Winnipeg School Division officials. The province's largest division charges a flat $50 for a September to June rental if 90 per cent of participants live in the division, but $50 an hour for users unable to meet the residency requirement.

Allan could not say if such a disparity is fair under the law.

Allan lauded Pembina Trails School Division, whose website includes a link that allows the community to call any school and see hour-by-hour if a gym is booked or available, and if it is rented, by whom.

"Pembina Trails School Division is the model," she said.

School divisions throughout Winnipeg said they're looking closely at the minister's directive to see if it has cost implications for them, but generally believe they're already complying.

"There will be a financial impact," said Louis Riel School Division superintendent Terry Borys, who has formed a committee to study the impact.

"We open our schools pretty much on demand," Seven Oaks superintendent Brian O'Leary said. "We may redirect some requests where we have a renovation project, but we open our schools for youth recreation, day care, summer school programming, Folklorama.

"We currently conform to the directive," O'Leary said.

"We're looking at whether we're in compliance with what the minister is asking," said Pembina Trails superintendent Lawrence Lussier. "We continue with our permits during vacation periods," with users having to pay the division's costs.

"It's been a good working relationship with the community," said Winnipeg School Division communications officer Dale Burgos.

A River East Transcona official said that while gyms are open for city-run youth programs in summer, trustees rule on other requests on a case-by-case basis.

The policy "appears to imply that requests may be denied if the division acts in a fair and reasonable manner or has a fair and reasonable rationale for denying the request," the official said.

"On holidays and weekends, that cost is passed on to the user group," while there's a minimal charge the rest of the time, St. James-Assiniboia superintendent Ron Weston said. "We get day camps, football and baseball teams that want to use it over March break."

Unless someone wants the gym all day for a week, schools can schedule maintenance around the users, Weston said.

Manitoba Teachers' Society president Paul Olson said sports equipment that the community uses is a cost not immediately recognized.

"Essentially, the equipment gets beat to hell. The resources are wrecked. The stuff that should last you all year is done by Christmas," Olson said.

You can read the provincial policy at http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/reports/use_facilities/docs/handbook.pdf

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 26, 2012 A4