Equal Access to Public Facilities

[eisely]

I overlooked the story below from the Sun Sentinel of Florida. I did not realize that the dispute with the Broward School Board had gotten resolved so favorably.

 

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Broward schools to waive room rental fees for Scouts, others

 

By Toni Marshall

Education Writer

Posted July 18 2001

 

After a nine-month battle with the Boy Scouts of America over school use, the Broward County School Board on Tuesday recommended allowing the Scouts and all other nonprofit groups to use schools rent-free, as long as they pay for lights.

 

The proposal is a reversal from the School Boards earlier plans to charge all 15,000 groups that lease school space after a court ruling prevented the district from booting the Boy Scouts off campus because they exclude gays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broward Schools Superintendent Frank Till said the district isnt backing off its stance against the Boy Scouts anti-gay policies, just putting all nonprofit groups that want to use school space on an equal footing.

 

Were still holding onto our principles ... on discrimination, said Till. I think this is fair. Now there is a standard for all.

 

But board members clashed with Till and opted to defer the policy until the next meeting, so a formula on how to charge groups for their energy use could be better explored.

 

You cant charge them energy costs to light up the whole school, said board member Stephanie Kraft. I will not support making a group pay if they are going to light up just the media center.

 

Till said if the district did not charge groups for their energy use, it would be subsidizing every nonprofit group in the county. I didnt think that was the intent of the school district, Till said.

 

He said the school district spent $40 million for energy usage this year, and noted that energy costs are expected to increase 15 percent to 18 percent next year.

 

Jeffrie Herrmann, scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America South Florida Council, said he was encouraged by the development.

 

What they were talking about before would have absolutely been cost-prohibitive for many groups, not just the Boy Scouts, he said. I dont know what the electricity charges will be, but it would have to be a lot less than they were talking about earlier this month, so potentially this sounds like wonderful news.

 

Groups such as the Girl Scouts, which has said it cannot afford a rental fee, saluted the proposed policy, but expressed concern about the light-usage fee. Leslie Roth, executive director of the Broward County Girl Scouts, said shes hoping the charge will be minimal for the 350 troops who use the schools. I feel better now than yesterday. Lets wait until the next meeting. Board members want to start implementing the policy by Oct. 1. They deferred it to the next board meeting in August.

 

In other business, the board passed a code of conduct policy that will ban students from bringing cell phones or pagers, scooters or skates to school.

 

However, most of the six board members who voted to pass the policy say they plan to revisit the issue soon because they want to hear from parents and students on the issue.

 

People use cell phones and beepers as safety devices, said board member Judie Budnick. I dont want to see an AP [assistant principal] strip-searching students to see who has a cell phone.

 

Board member Lois Wexler stressed that the board needed more input from parents.

 

The only reason Im voting for it is so I can bring it back on the agenda, said board member Stephanie Kraft.

 

The board also voted to adopt tighter rules for uniform waivers and stiffer penalties for students who break the dress code at the 60 elementary and middle schools that require students to wear them.

 

The new policy requires parents to file for an exemption within 10 days of enrolling a child in school. No exemptions would be allowed after that.

 

Budnick said she is pro-uniforms, but I dont need a written explanation. [Parents] do not have to justify why a child isnt in uniform, they just have to say no.

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

This may be a stretch, but I couldnt help noticing part of the meeting was about dress code and uniforms. I guess while the board wants to restrict access to its property to groups that "discriminate", it has no problem restricting access to its property to people who dont dress correctly. The Board wants to control the type of people (those in uniform over those without) it has in its buildings.

I guess it is THEIR building, built with TAXPAYER money and if they want a dress code, I support their right.

[Mike Long]

On the school uniform thing I think is important to say that some sections of South Florida have a big problem with gangs and drugs. The uniforms are an attempt to remove gang "uniforms" from schools. when one gang sees another it usually ends in a fight (if you are lucky)

 

Right or wrong? I'm not sure, but the attempt is a weak one because it is patheticly easy to "opt-out." Either get a uniform and everyone wears it or forget about it.

 

Hmmm... Perhaps I should have responded in the "Uniforms" section.

[eisely]

I was not aware until I saw this piece that school uniforms were in wide use in public schools anywhere. There are numerous advantages to school uniforms, and it is not a trivial issue. Do you suppose the school board will come around for uniform inspection for the scout units?