Board votes to charge Group 2 facility fee for City of San Jose youth program at Alviso Youth Center

The Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to charge a Group 2 facility fee for a 10-week Saturday youth program proposed by the City of San Jose's Youth Empowerment Alliance to use the Alviso Youth Center.

District staff had recommended that, at minimum, the organization reimburse the district for custodial costs and consider charging a Group 2 rate if the majority of participants are district students. Trustees debated whether the district should subsidize a city-run program given concurrent rightsizing and budget constraints.

Trustee Fairchild moved to charge the Group 2 fees (roughly $5,660 for the 10-week request, inclusive of anticipated custodial costs). Supporters of the motion argued that the program is likely to serve many local students in Alviso and that recovering direct costs is consistent with the Civic Center intent of making district facilities available to the community. Opponents said the board should not give away space for free while staff layoffs are under way.

The motion to charge Group 2 fees passed 4-2, with trustees Rotterman and Watanabe voting no and Trustee Ryan absent at the time of the vote. District staff said the custodial portion of the fee (about $3,960 of the total) is included in the Group 2 calculation and that the board could revisit rates for other applicants.

Trustees instructed staff to finalize the rental terms and confirm the participant breakdown if necessary. The district emphasized that any use of district property requires compliance with board policy and recovery of direct costs where appropriate.