I hope your board doesn't do that. Each school has different issues I am sure. We have 2 elementary schools one on the south side of the county (where I was raised) and one on the north side (where I live). The differences in the communities are VERY different and I think the administrator of each school should have descretion.
I believe that each school does require a staff of the schools be present. In the past there were problems with messes and vandalism. You must clean up after your self. You can rent our gym and cafteteria seperately for an hourly rate. You can book the time with the sec or principal of the school. They have a calendar on hand for that.
Our school actually has a Activites Committee that is made up of several staff members from within the school. You fill our a Activities Form, indicate or explain your event, fundraiser, or feild trip (3 in 1 to save paper) and the committee reviews it and lets you know. Since we are a charter school and we own our building we really don't have to go through the district.
The process can be kind of nerve recking, espically when your event is Monday and your in the office Friday asking "So...what's happening Monday?" I do like it though, this way your event is on the school calendar and everyone is on the same page.
This isn't a PTO-specific question, but I'm curious to know how your schools allow for the use of school property by outside entities. Is it handled campus by campus or centrally? Do they have policies for who can use it? Are there facility fees? Do they charge extra for electricity?
Ours is handled in a rather ad hoc manner by each campus, but there have been some complaints over time. Why is one school more strict than another? Does having an "in" at a school let a sports team get extra practices that others in the league don't? Why are some groups like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts an automatic "yes" for using space, but other non-profits don't get as easy an answer. (Note - there's no corruption or big problem, just the normal day-to-day issues of managing anything like this.)
Our district is talking about centralizing all reservations for use of any public school space next year, and being much more rigid about charging everyone - even extra for electricity. And in these tight budget times, the space rental is seen as an extra revenue source. It's all just talk right now, so I don't know how far it will go. But I'd like feedback on how your schools are handling it now.
