School district looks to get facilities use under control
A proposed policy on community use of facilities and grounds is heading for a vote.
By Cora C. Briggs
Special to the Sun Journal

LIVERMORE FALLS – SAD 36 Directors reviewed a draft proposed policy for community use of school facilities and grounds Thursday night, voting to waive the first reading so it can go to vote at the Nov. 13 meeting.

“We have found people and activities going on without permission, we need to get this under control,” Superintendent Terry Despres said as he warned about the district’s liability in such cases.

The new policy outlines who can use the facilities (schools have first opportunity), insurance requirements, deposit and additional fees, custodial services, and injuries and damages.

A table of rental fees was included but only for a potential format, said Despres. A full-page list of guidelines also needs to be discussed, he told the board. He urged them to read the proposal thoroughly and direct any questions to the Policy Committee.

Since the policy will be in effect by then, the Chrome Cleat football game will come under the new guidelines.

In other business, Despres addressed the placement of the middle school eighth-graders on the state list of schools failing to make adequate progress in reading, according to the No Child Left Behind Act.

He stressed that the school is only being monitored, which equals a warning, and must be designated for two years to be on the priority list.

“There is an unbelievable amount of conditions attached to NCLB,” he explained. “Any category which the school didn’t meet would put it on the list.”

“This is an urban model being used in rural America; one sub-category didn’t meet it and triggered our middle school into being monitored.”

He is unable to identify the specific category because such information is confidential under another part of federal law, Despres said.

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