Despite being in conversation for months, members of Vashon’s park and school district boards are continuing to discuss the agreement governing public use of school facilities.
The park board met Tuesday night after press time and discussed the so-called Commons Agreement, which allows for public use of school district facilities, but requires the park district to pay the school district $100,000 each year. It was set to expire at the end of this month, but both boards have agreed to extend it through July.
A call to park board chair Karen Gardner Monday was not returned, but park board commissioner Scott Harvey said he felt negotiations would be done after the Tuesday meeting.
“I think we’re done, and I think we’re going to say, (to the school district) ‘take-it or leave it.’ We’re going to propose a fair offer,” he said.
The park and school boards also met last Wednesday, and park commissioners offered the school district $25,000 per year. The school district declined, and negotiations were set to continue.
While former park boards have questioned the agreement, it has always been renewed. The current board’s efforts seem to be centered around the fact that there is no other municipality in the state with an agreement like the Commons — where a park district pays a school district. Park district commissioners say there is not enough money in the $1.2 million budget to continue paying Vashon Island School District (VISD) $100,000 each year. But VISD argues that it incurs $700,000 in maintenance costs for facilities such as the fields and gyms each year and public use, not by school activities, makes up 75 percent of athletic facility use.
If the park district decides it cannot pay the school district the $100,000 and the agreement ends altogether or requires a far lower payment, user fees could increase to cover the gap in costs, though the exact amounts are unknown.
Representatives from both boards have said that the expiration of the current agreement will not change the public’s ability to access VISD facilities.
