The Vashon Island School District (VISD) may soon move to terminate their partnership with the Vashon Park District (VPD) in managing Vashon Commons, an agreement that has been in place for more than three decades.

First established in 1987, the agreement allows VPD to facilitate community use of VISD properties, including fields and buildings, during non-school hours.

VISD Superintendent Slade McSheehy said, during the Thursday, Jan. 27 school board meeting, that the school district and the park district first met during the fall of last year, and discussed the “unusual” nature of the park district managing school district property.

According to the signed Interlocal Agreement between VPD and VISD, the Vashon Commons includes “…all athletic facilities owned or operated by the Parties, as well as indoor meeting spaces appropriate for public use like classrooms, libraries and multi-purpose rooms.”

The agreement between the two entities also automatically extends for another five-year period unless either VISD or VPD votes to terminate the agreement 90 days prior to its expiration on June 30, 2022.

The 90-day notice for termination now puts the decision on a fast timetable.

The VISD Board has scheduled the first reading of a motion to terminate the Commons Agreement at its Feb. 10 board meeting, which will also be attended by members of the Park District board. Representatives of Facilitron, a California-based scheduling platform that has been proposed as an alternative to the Commons, will also attend the meeting. Subsequently, the VISD board will further discuss the matter at their March 10 meeting, when they may take action to terminate the Commons Agreement and sign up as a client of the third-party vendor.

However, some key stakeholders in the decision — leaders of youth sports leagues and Drama Dock, both told The Beachcomber that they have only learned in recent weeks and days about the proposal to end the Vashon Commons agreement. (See “Letters,” page 6.)

According to VPD Executive Director Elaine Ott-Rocheford, a community representative, Darragh Keenan, the former president of the youth soccer club, was in attendance at three previous meetings held to discuss the possible termination of the Commons agreement. The public meetings were noticed on the Park District’s website, she said.

Wider public discussions, she said, were not held in part due to sensitivity around the fact that four part-time employees at VPD could lose their jobs if the Commons Agreement was terminated.

According to Ott-Rocheford, the VPD and VISD Commons Committee representatives met for their annual meeting on Nov. 12, 2021. One of the topics of concern was the $75,000 fee the Park District pays to VISD in order to offset incremental maintenance costs incurred for community recreational use of the facilities.

“VISD suggested we consider an alternative model that honors the spirit of the interlocal agreement in that the community use of VISD facilities would still be made available, but it would be facilitated by VISD,” said Ott-Rocheford in an email to The Beachcomber. “They would collect the fees for their community facility use.”

Ott-Rocheford also stated that at the same November meeting, VISD Superintendent Slade McSheehy suggested that VPD and VISD explore Facilitron, a vendor he told the group had been successfully used by his prior school district.

Under the current Commons Agreement, VPD collects around $20,000 to $25,000 in user fees annually, said Ott-Rocheford. The fees set by VPD are not based on cost recovery and are intentionally kept low.

In a phone call with The Beachcomber, Ott-Rocheford said that VPD has had difficulty filling some of those positions in recent months, but said that in general, the Commons agreement had worked well for Vashon. Additionally, she described the discussions about terminating the agreement as still being in an “exploratory phase” and said the Park District board was “nowhere near” making a decision on the matter.

According to a FAQ sheet sent to The Beachcomber by McSheehy, the termination of the agreement is being discussed for multiple reasons. For instance, the current agreement is described as “anomalous” and “not necessary to provide access to island users.” The Commons Agreement is also, according to the document, inadequate in its responses to annual changes in fees related to usage rates, or other circumstances that impact usage, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Lastly, the scheduling and operating process should be updated and moved to an automated system that would increase efficiency of use, management, maintenance, and operations,” stated the document.

If the Commons agreement is terminated, the VISD board will consider rate adjustments in upcoming board meetings, and seek public input on the new arrangement through a community forum and Q & A later in the spring.

For user groups on the island, the news of the potential dissolution of the Commons Agreement could mean big changes to the way their groups operate.

Gaye Detzer, President of the Drama Dock board, said that Drama Dock has long used school spaces like the McMurray band room, gym, VHS band room, and theater for rehearsals and performances.

Scott Thorpe, Vashon Island Soccer Club President, hosted and moderated a public Zoom meeting on Monday evening, Feb. 7, to find out more about the plan. VPD and VISD administrators and board members, leadership from youth lacrosse, basketball and baseball, and Drama Dock’s artistic director, Lisa Peretti, were all in attendance.

“What specifically isn’t working with the Commons Agreement that it needs to be jettisoned?” asked Brian McWatters, Board President of Vashon Lacrosse.

Other leaders of user groups criticized the lack of notice they and others have received about the potential termination of the Commons Agreement received. Peter Walker, League President of Vashon Baseball, found out around Jan. 26 about the potential dissolution of the agreement, but later learned meetings had been held months earlier.

“Why all the secrecy?” said Walker.

Robin Magonegil, who is the president of Vashon Basketball, said that Darragh Kennan, who was the sole representative of Vashon Commons at the earlier meetings, was not currently in a leadership position in any club, and that another representative should have been chosen.

Kennan, who also attended the Zoom meeting, apologized for his lack of communication with other youth sports leaders, saying that he spoke about the potential termination of the Commons Agreement as soon as he thought “he was allowed” to do so.

McSheehy and VPD Board Secretary Hans Van Dusen also apologized during the meeting if the proposal to terminate the Commons Agreement had seemed “clandestine,” and Ott-Rocheford stressed that no decisions have been made on the matter yet.

“Why should it end when it does so many good things for the community?” said Nick Keenan, vice president of the Vashon Island Soccer Club.

— Elizabeth Shepherd contributed reporting to this article.

Clarification: One passage of this article has been clarified since the original version of the article was published. The clarified passage reads:

According to VPD Executive Director Elaine Ott-Rocheford, a community representative, Darragh Keenan, the former president of the youth soccer club, was in attendance at three previous meetings held to discuss the possible termination of the Commons agreement. The public meetings were noticed on the Park District’s website, she said. Wider public discussions, she said, were not held in part due to sensitivity around the fact that four part-time employees at VPD could lose their jobs if the Commons Agreement was terminated.

The original version did not state the meetings had been noticed on the VPD website and lacked clarity in explaining that Ott-Rocheford was referring to additional community discussions rather than larger attendance at the three meetings.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained both a captioned photo and a passage referring to Drama Dock’s use of the theater and band room of Vashon High School, as part of the Commons Agreement. However, the 2017 Interlocal Agreement, which currently governs the properties included in the Vashon Commons, does not include the Vashon High School Theater and its band room. Previous to the opening of the newly-built Vashon High School, it did. We regret the error.