03/01/2023
Chesapeake Public Schools "Facilities Use" Policy Revision from the February 27th, 2023 School Board Meeting summary:
At Monday night’s school board meeting, the board voted on a new building use policy that was presented at the meeting on Feb 13th. This policy makes some significant changes to the old policy in order to address concerns with building use by the After School Satan Club, but much of it also remains the same. Here are the majors changes:
➡️ All leaders, volunteers, etc with each non-exempt (ie, not school or government related entity) organization using CPS facilities must have a background check; the files related to that can be requested at any time by CPS
➡️ Staging or decorations for the meetings can’t deface school property, have to meet fire codes, and must be approved by building admin
➡️ No storage of trailers on CPS property between meetings
No storage of materials related to the meetings inside the building, no requests for storage space in the school
➡️ No use of school names or the CPS logo on any promotional material unless given permission in advance
➡️ Entrance to the building must be monitored by an adult (21+) during the event (this is the only change to the security requirements)
➡️ Each organization must keep a roster of members which can be requested at any time during the rental period
➡️ Building use during the week will be limited to 6pm-10pm
Clarification related to payment of CPS staff who need to be present at times outside of normal working hours
⭐️ In addition to these changes to the current policy, Mr. Mercer proposed a few further qualifications to the new policy as it goes into effect. These were:
1️⃣ The current moratorium on building use permits be ended
2️⃣ New applicants for building use will have to abide by the new policy
3️⃣ Organizations with current permits will have 60 days to abide by the new policies, unless otherwise contractually prohibited (the new provision that will be the biggest impact is the need to meet after 6pm on school days; current clubs will not be grandfathered in)
4️⃣ The Superintendent is directed to figure out a way to allow non-school groups to meet closer to dismissal time rather than the 6pm or later provision in place in the new rules
🌟 This new policy, with Mr. Mercer’s implementation terms, passed by a vote of 5-4. The five members voting for the policy were Ms. Swygert, Mr. Mercer, Mr. Lamonea, Mr. Pool, and Ms. Scott. Their reasons were wide-ranging, but overall, they seemed to feel that a minority of citizens upset about the inclusion of the After School Satan Club in the approved use of CPS facilities should not preclude all the other clubs from continuing to provide a service to CPS students. Ms. Swygert rightfully reminded everyone that no one can attend any of these clubs without express permission from their parents.
🌟 The four members opposed to the club were Mr. McCormick, Mr. Boone, Dr. Walker, and Ms. Dean. Ms. Dean expressed sentiments about not wanting the ASSC to be allowed to use the buildings because of her faith. All four members against the new policy expressed that they believed CPS “should not be in the business of being landlords” because they feel it is out of step with CPS’s mission to educate kids. They believe CPS should not host any entities that are not school-related.
👉 The bottom line is that CPS had a choice between all or none when it comes to allowing outside entities to use CPS facilities for meetings. The majority of the board voted to approve continued use under new guidelines, rightfully assessing the fact that these outside clubs provide a useful service to the kids of Chesapeake and that removing all of them in order to follow the law would be a detriment to our town and students.
News articles about the vote:
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/chesapeake/chesapeake-school-board-votes-change-facility-policies-satan-club/291-fb9b3487-da0c-42ff-b03d-06de14019422?fbclid=IwAR0HcEXXOGz7PoN2WvlNJy7_lrrnZmWeW18FVddFre_gO0pBjgkeHYXPUm0
https://www.wtkr.com/news/chesapeake-school-board-discussing-facility-use-at-monday-night-meeting?fbclid=IwAR0OHGcTypPJ0eDI9Q4kKtSchWUeNsWC4mmXnW0h1VCZ_2F142udDOVej3g
