Herricks Moving Forward with Building and Athletic Field Fees

Groups that use the Herricks school athletic fields and buildings may have to pay fees to the school district in the future as the topic has been weighing on the minds of the members of the Herricks Board of Education.

During a meeting on August 9 at the community center, assistant superintendent of finance Helen Costigan explained that the formula that determines what groups pay to use the athletic fields is the group’s number of hours per season used on the fields and multiplied by $30 an hour. The figures are reviewed by Jim Petricca.

Costigan added that the district is probably moving toward doing this for three seasons: fall, spring and summer.

Superintendent Dr. John Bierwirth noted that for all groups, if they request that a building be opened and used outside of school hours or if additional custodian fees are warranted, then the group is charged that amount.

Trustee Brian Hassan noted that it’s “only fair” that other groups besides athletic teams pay for usage of the district’s school buildings. He added that a small fee “won’t break anyone’s bank.”

Board president Christine Turner suggested that there be a minimum that groups are charged, such as $50.

Board member Sanjay Jain suggested that when the resolution is written up for the next meeting that it not include many specifics regarding exact amounts groups will be charged, as that might mean that the resolution will have to be amended in the future. Instead, he suggested that the general concept be included in the resolution.

A resolution about how these fees will be implemented is scheduled to be drafted at the board’s next meeting on August 30.