Fees for community use of schools prescribed by province, LDSB says

Jeff Green | Dec 04, 2019

A delegation from the North Frontenac Little Theatre came to Central Frontenac Council last month to complain about the new fees they, and other community groups, must pay to use Granite Ridge Education Centre (GREC). They received a sympathetic response from council.

When contacted this week about the matter, the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) has once again pointed out that the fees are based on a cost recovery model that is prescribed by the Ministry of Education.

Jane Douglas, Communications Officer with the LDSB, said that the fees charged on school day afternoons and evenings before 10pm, when custodian crews are working whether or not the school is being used by community, are based on the extra cleaning that is required.

“There are still extra costs even if the custodian would be there anyway. Rooms need extra cleaning, and there are material costs. It is all based on calculations that were provided to the board by the ministry, it was not a local decision,” she said.

Groups that have been using the school for free for years, were informed that the change was coming a year ago, and received notification in June about the actual costs for the current school year.

Doug Steele is one of the organisers of Thursday night badminton at GREC. The fee was initially set at $50 a night in June, but the group was able to have the fee lowered to $24 for the use of the gym, because students under 18 play along with the adults.

“For now, we are all still paying the same amount each of us paid in the past, $5 per semester,” Steele said. “We have some money in the bank and can use that until it runs out. We will then need to raise fees or fundraise.” There are about 20 badminton enthusiasts paying the fee.

The costs to North Frontenac Little Theatre are higher because they rehearse twice a week and more often in the immediate run-up to the productions. The fees are much higher during the weekend of the run, and the entire package had put the future of the company at GREC in doubt.

The board had intended to keep community use of GREC free, for community groups, when the school was originally built, according to Jane Douglass.

“It was clear from the Program and Accommodation and Review process, that led to the Granite Ridge Education Centre build, that community use was a priority because there are not a lot of other similar facilities in the Sharbot Lake area,” said Douglas, but she added that “there was never any formal written agreement between the board and the township. The board kept to the agreement, and received ministry funding to cover the costs, until the Ministry of Education changed its policy.”

Douglas also said that as far as the board is aware, there was no formal commitment made to the township of Central Frontenac in exchange for the township’s decision to waive a portion of the building permit fees when the school was being built.

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said that the township forfeited about $50,000 in fees at the time. Smith was not the mayor at that time, but she was a member of council representing Oso ward, which includes Sharbot Lake.