In a move that has sparked outrage among youth sport teams and other organizations in Ottawa, the USD 290 Board of Education passed new rental fees on district facilities. In the past, if you wanted to utilize one of the buildings or fields in the USD 290 School District, you could, free of charge, if one of those people associated with the group was a teacher in the district or if it benefitted kids. It has been done over a thousand times in the last several years. Not any more. The USD 290 Board is imposing fees to use the facilities. Superintendent Dr. Ryan Cobbs says when people use the buildings, it’s not free to the district:
The Board approved a flat fee to use facilities. In district will be $25 per hour for a classroom, $35 per hour for the Cyclone room, and $45 per hour for gymnasium use. Fees double for out of district groups, plus a fee to use the lights on the fields. They also decided to not allow rental of the performing arts center to outside entities.
Organizers of the teams that use the facilities are protesting the fees and plan to present their case to the school board soon.
