Parents urge board to revisit reduced fees for churches, warn of inequity

During the public comment period on April 9, parents raised concerns about how the district applied a tiered facility‑use fee schedule after the board approved a fee adjustment for churches at a prior meeting.

Megan McNicholas, a parent at Discovery Elementary, urged the board to revisit the decision to reduce fees for churches. McNicholas said the district’s nine‑group fee system was designed to align with state law and charge organizations based on use and cost recovery; she argued that moving churches to a lower cost tier — or effectively reducing their fees after the fact — undermines a neutral, criteria‑based approach and shifts maintenance and replacement costs onto the district’s already limited general fund.

Katie Von Berg, also a parent with children at Discovery and SENS, made a similar point and apologized for a prior misstatement she made about the superintendent’s salary, noting she had relied on an inaccurate source. Von Berg and McNicholas both said nonprofit sports and arts groups and city partnerships regularly use district facilities and should not be disadvantaged by inconsistent fee application.

Board member Meehan (speaker 15) responded to the commenters to clarify comments he made at a prior meeting: Meehan said his earlier remarks were intended to remove a 5% surcharge that had been proposed for religious organizations so that they would be charged the same as other nonprofits in their tier; he said the placement of churches in their tier remained unchanged. Staff later confirmed churches remained in the same tier and the 5% surcharge was removed, per the rubric used to evaluate applicants.

Both parents framed their remarks as a call for fairness and consistent policy application rather than a challenge to the value of faith‑based organizations. No formal board action was taken on the facility‑use pricing at this meeting; several board members thanked the speakers.

Next steps: callers urged the board to reexamine the fee decision; staff and board comments indicated staff will continue to apply the rubric and can bring the item back for reconsideration if directed by the board.