FCPS Charging Scouts to Use School Space

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good. Everyone should pay or no one should pay. It's not fair to give scouts a break but no one else.

+1

[Anonymous]

Our Pack paid to use the space on the weekend but not during the week. We did our best to clean up, sweep, wipe down tables, throw away all trash. I think we had one complaint that we had not cleaned well enough once in 8 years using the cafeteria at three different schools.

Many Scout units are not particularly religious. The ones that are more religious tend to meet at their house of worship. There are a lot of units in this area, it should be easy to find one that meets your needs if you are interested in the program. Our Pack and Troop tend to be less concerned with the religious element as a unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, in the past Scouts were exempted because of their non-profit status. FCPS recently issued a new policy mandating all groups, including non-profits pay.

Message to Scouts, no more freeloading on the backs of taxpayers.

Wow, I bet you're loads of laughs at parties.

Given the school at which my Troop met is in our neighborhood and thus we are the taxpayers funding that building that sits in our neighborhood, I don't really see how that is "freeloading."

And to the other point about the janitors being there to open the doors. Guess what? They're there whether we use the place or not. If you'd like to charge us a fraction of their hourly wage for not locking the door then, ok, I guess.

Yeah, that's not how taxes work. You are equally funding every school in the country, just like every taxpayer in the county is funding your neighborhood school, there's no allocation or earmarking, in other words the fact that your Troop meets at a school that is "in your neighborhood" is both logical and irrelevant to the discussion.

The freeloading aspect is that they used to get a special exemption and didn't have to pay, unlike the many other groups that use school facilities for whatever purpose (and almost all groups are likewise doing something positive, building character through sports or arts or whatever else, etc... pretty sure there aren't any groups paying to use school facilities that are then going out and doing something negative in the community.

I'm not sure what normal staff/security hours are, but regardless of time of day there still is some nominal cost involved in wear and tear on the facility, increased utilities usage, admin overhead to manage the rental schedule, and so on... it's never zero, even if it should be reasonably "low". And should be on par with what other groups are using to use the same space.

[Anonymous]

This is not new, my service unit paid upwards of $3500 last year for our bigger events. We’re passing those keys onto the troops this year instead, which will impact attendance and hertz counting in a year where they’ve already raised the membership fees. Nobody minds paying the custodial fees, those people work hard and deserve to be paid for their time. The rental fees and the supervisor fees seem extraordinary and unnecessary. Presumably, FCPS wants to push out community groups for those with deeper pockets, like sports leagues.

[Anonymous]

Immediate PP here.

Keys=fees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They can cleanup after themselves. Our non profit does. No need for additional person.

Agree. Pay up Scouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s next paid parking for school plays, sporting events and other after school activities. Need to bring in more money for body guards.

Well if you go to a high school sporting event- it is $10 to watch your kid play

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW it is more work for janitors.

They do all the cafeteria cleanup immediately after lunches, that room is otherwise empty until breakfast the next day. If a group rents it in the afternoon evening it has to be cleaned again. They also shut most bathrooms after school, only leaving ones open near after care. If they have groups in another wing of the building, that’s another bathroom that has to be cleaned late. It pushes everyone’s schedules back. We already have “bare bones” custodial days about 30% of the time where we are told only trash will be emptied, no actual cleaning will occur in our classrooms. Each of these group requests makes it more likely for those to happen unless there is money to hire more custodial staff.

It’s the same with the gyms and why the youth leagues rent it for the whole night and cram practices in at 5/6/7/8 pm. Then they pay 1 cleaning fee.

This. It is absolutely more work for the janitors. Many schools are understaffed in the custodial department and struggling to complete basic cleaning tasks like taking out classroom trash each day. Less community use means less work for the janitors, which allows them to prioritize other parts of their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, in the past Scouts were exempted because of their non-profit status. FCPS recently issued a new policy mandating all groups, including non-profits pay.

Message to Scouts, no more freeloading on the backs of taxpayers.

-You're an ignorant dipshit with no kids. Scouts/ Girls Scouts is one of the only self funded after school programs to engage children after class is over. These groups are for the betterment of the community. If you think otherwise, it just means you have not actually had any interaction with these groups at all.

They are not 'freeloading' at all, they are maximizing taxpayer dollars economically.

-Signed all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, in the past Scouts were exempted because of their non-profit status. FCPS recently issued a new policy mandating all groups, including non-profits pay.

Message to Scouts, no more freeloading on the backs of taxpayers.

-You're an ignorant dipshit with no kids. Scouts/ Girls Scouts is one of the only self funded after school programs to engage children after class is over. These groups are for the betterment of the community. If you think otherwise, it just means you have not actually had any interaction with these groups at all.

They are not 'freeloading' at all, they are maximizing taxpayer dollars economically.

-Signed all of us.

+1 Keeping kids out of trouble and off screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, in the past Scouts were exempted because of their non-profit status. FCPS recently issued a new policy mandating all groups, including non-profits pay.

Message to Scouts, no more freeloading on the backs of taxpayers.

-You're an ignorant dipshit with no kids. Scouts/ Girls Scouts is one of the only self funded after school programs to engage children after class is over. These groups are for the betterment of the community. If you think otherwise, it just means you have not actually had any interaction with these groups at all.

They are not 'freeloading' at all, they are maximizing taxpayer dollars economically.

-Signed all of us.

Are you serious? There are loads of self funded after school programs that engage children. This is the land of the extra curricular activity. They all exist for the betterment of our children and the community. And other than Scouts, if any of them want to use FCPS facilities, they pay for it.

[Anonymous]

NP. Every non-government user should pay or none of those should pay. No special treatment for any private organizations.

I would be Ok with exempting official state government or official local government meetings from fees.

[Anonymous]

Then after-school programs the PTA contracts with other vendors should also pay. Girls on the run, stem after-school, etc.

[Anonymous]

It’s reasonable for all groups to pay for staffing outside of normal hours.

[Anonymous]

Everyone pays for rental space. Why would anyone get a free ride?