Agenda - 04-25-2006-1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• The Town of Carrboro owns no gyms. All of its indoor athletic programs are conducted in school facilities. • The Recreation and Parks Commission would like access to schools in the afternoons and early evenings. It receives many complaints from the community about how late practices must be held. • The limiting factor in Carrboro's recreation programming is space. There is strong interest in expanding programs for adults and youth, and plenty of volunteers, "The Department is concerned, and the Commission is concerned." • There is a need for afternoon programs for parents and teens. In particular, the Commission would like to provide after school programs at McDougle Middle School. • The money for public recreation programs and for public schools "all comes out of the same purses," Ms, Murrell said. We therefore need to share across the schools and the recreation departments. Working together, the schools and recreation programs can help each other obtain funding, "I hear this on the state and federal levels" in the forums I'm involved with beyond my service in Carrboro, she said. • The Commission is concerned about losing some of the space to which it now has access. McDougle is going to move its wrestling program to its gym. • Many young people do not have adults at home for them when they get out of school. They need recreation programs as early in the afternoons as possible, to keep them busy, out of trouble, safe and healthy. In response to Ms. Murrell's presentation, Mr. Copeland asked how CHCCS secures its facilities when making buildings and fields available to non- school community programs. Dr. Pedersen said that the district requires a custodian to be present, either from the school or one provided by the user, Ms. Bedford said that the district's gyms, anticipating community use, are designed with separate offices and bathrooms so that the rest of the building can be sealed off from non - school users. Ms. Stuckey added that all spaces that the community might use for non - school functions -- the library, gym, auditorium and cafeteria — are self - sufficient, so that the academic, sections of the building may be locked. The teachers have legitimate concerns about classrooms and instructional materials not being disturbed, she said. Mr. Copeland agreed that recreation and schools funding "all comes from the same pocket." An implication of this, he said, is that fewer dollars will be available for education if the school districts pay for non - school community recreation programs. "We need to put our heads together with the County to allot County /Schools Collaboration Meeting (April 8, 2005) 6