It looks as though the relatively new Hollister school board doesn’t have much patience for a long-held partnership with the city involving the rental of facilities for recreation programs. And it appears that trustees are concerned about a range of “little issues” that have accumulated through the years rather than one primary concern, according to the school board president.
An April board meeting where Hollister school trustees were set to discuss a future direction for the partnership with Hollister – involving rental of facilities for recreation programs – became an eventual vote to cancel the contracts with the city and end the nearly 30-year arrangement.
Hollister School Board trustees at that April meeting voted 4-1 – Patricia Moore was the only member against it – to cancel those contracts and immediately send related notices to the city. It means that the Hollister Recreation Department could soon be absent of facilities needed to carry out its programs. Now, the clock is ticking, as the relationship would get nullified at the end of June.
The district toward the end of May sent 30-day cancellation notices for the Rancho San Justo Middle School and Maze Middle School gymnasiums, along with a 180-day notice for the Rancho outdoor fields as well. That was actually against the recommendation from Superintendent Gary McIntire and the district staff, which suggested that board members renegotiate the contracts and “rein in who has control of the keys” at the facilities, McIntire said.
Eliminating the contracts also would come with a direct cost, according to McIntire, who estimated that lost revenue from the city – along with the need to hire staff to take on some programs – would come to about $100,000 annually.
School board President Elizabeth Martinez explained that the decision was based on several issues such as lacking upkeep, cost and control of the facilities. One of the root causes to the problems is that the city designed the contracts, she said, while the problems have been present for years.
The district is set to hold a special meeting over the matter at 5 p.m. Thursday.
“Little concerns have been an issue for quite a few years,” said Martinez, adding that Recreation Manager Tina Garza had been part of talks in 2010 in an attempt to fix problem areas.
She said the city’s contracts allow use of the facilities “basically for free” – City Manager Clint Quilter mentioned the city pays $25 an hour for each and charges users $35 an hour – and that the district has to consider its costs, especially when school staff members are left to clean up after recreation users.
“We just don’t have the time to be able to have our staff come back in and then be able to clean the school, have everything prepared for the students the following day because,” Martinez said, “they don’t have the capacity to clean it. We don’t have the capacity to clean it.”
Martinez said the district does, indeed, want to continue its partnership with the city and other user groups.
“We want that partnership,” she said. “We want to continue that collaboration – just to ensure who’s coming and going. Right now, we have no control of our facilities.”
As Martinez mentioned, there are other groups outside of the city itself with an interest in the contracts.
Youth Alliance Executive Director Diane Ortiz, Quilter and a representative from the Hollister Free Wheelers spoke to trustees at their May meeting during public comment.
Ortiz told the Free Lance that such joint-use agreements, as the one between the district and city, are collectively a major asset for the community. She is concerned that users of the Youth Alliance and other residents might be priced out of the programs if there are renegotiations and higher fees. She is also worried about dismantling the programs altogether.
“It is really, really concerning,” she said.
Quilter after informing council members last week told the Free Lance he didn’t know what spurred the trustees’ decision.
“I think sometimes people don’t understand how things get done in a small community,” he said. “We built a system that’s stable, but it’s very fragile, like a Jenga tower. The city doesn’t have facilities. The school doesn’t have staff to manage the rental of the facilities.”
