What does your district do?
Some feel that since taxpayers pay for the schools, renting to religious groups is subsiding church.
I have a particular interest in this because the public pool where I have water therapy every week shares a parking lot with the high school.
Nineteen spaces are reserved for the pool, with only two handicapped slots. Many more handicapped slots are needed.
There was already a significant problem with both teachers and students using the pool spaces. With construction in the area, if the lot is full, unless you can walk several blocks, you have to skip class as there is no other parking.
Our class submitted a polite but firm letter to the principal requesting that he remind everyone not to park in the pool spaces. He responded with a immature & rude letter saying that since we were there for exercise that we should get more exercise and walk instead of drive.
Many of the people using the pool are doing so like me, after hip &/or knee replacements. Water exercise is the only exercise they can do. Especially the ones that haven’t had their replacement yet!
Anyway, Sunday morning was the only day that we were guaranteed to have a space to park.
But now since Easter, a local church has been using the whole lot every Sunday, plus surrounding streets.
Services begin 30 minutes before the pool opens, and while I’m sure they have mentioned to parishioners not to park in the pool spaces, that clearly is not enough.
So pool users have a double whammy.
We pay taxes that support the school and the pool.
We pay to register for the water exercise class.
Both the school by not caring if students use the spaces and the church, are impacting our ability to use what we’ve paid for.
What should be next steps?
Can the official pool people put up signage in the pool parking spots forbidding non-pool people from using them?
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Some feel that since taxpayers pay for the schools, renting to religious groups is subsiding church.
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?
The schools are RENTING the facilities…they’re not letting them use them for free. However, if they chose to let any group of any sort use the facilities for free, then ok.
Schools have done this sort of thing FOREVER. When my church had a fire, the church rented the local public school’s auditorium every Sunday for several months during the repair. It was a win for the school…money that they wouldn’t’ have otherwise had.
Your local government should be made aware that people can’t access the pool, that people with disabilities can’t access the pool, and that signs should be put up about parking and those should be enforced. They can have the police talk to the church to tell them they need to keep the spaces clear and that, if necessary, they should post someone outside to prevent people from using those spaces.
You can use the principal’s letter to show your town (or whatever) is looking at a possible lawsuit over access to the pool.
In my town, we have selectmen and I’d start by contacting their office. You may have a mayor office’s, etc.
The schools are RENTING the facilities…they’re not letting them use them for free. However, if they chose to let any group of any sort use the facilities for free, then ok.*
At less than market rates, hence the subsidy.
It is true that they use these rates for secular groups as well.
However, my main point, since I obviously was not clear enough, is at least six days a week, the school is impacting use of the pool by the community. ( Classes are not held on Saturday)
The church also discriminates against gay Christians, so it doesn’t sound like a good decision by the Seattle high school, imo.
I expect our gay mayor will be interested!
our school district rents to a church. the contract states exactly where they can and cannot park. they abide by this. everyone is happy. in your case with the pool, you could ask the church secretary to place the pool users on the prayer list as they struggle with physical conditions that make their access to their class on Sundays a necessity. wonder if anyone would “get it”
I think the fact that the church is renting the school is irrelevant to your issue, and it is not your real problem. If the church is not paying any less than any other group renting the school, why is the fact that it is a church worth even mentioning? It seems the real problem is the lack of parking for those with disabilities who would like to use the pool. I think focusing on that, rather than clouding the discussion by bringing up separation-of-church-and-state, is key. Access to adequate parking for disabled people is important. Our local high school increased the number of handicapped spaces near the pool entrance in response to concerns from the many disabled pool users. Others complained that they had to walk farther … but at least they were able to do so.
I agree with @kelsmom The issue is not that a church is renting school space… Our district rents to a church every Sunday. Many non-profit and for-profit groups rent school space.
What is the npv of renting?
Status Quo: school sits empty on Saturdays with minimal use of utilities.
Rental: school gets paid for the use of otherwise empty facilities by church. If the rent exceeds the wear and tear plus the upkeep (heat, cleaning, etc.) school is ahead financially.
However, if policing of parking becomes a high cost nightmare, school would be better off without renting.
Would it change anyone’s opinion if the principal was a member of the church?
I still disagree with renting to groups that discriminate.
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At less than market rates, hence the subsidy.
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Was that mentioned in the OP?
Anyway…YOUR ISSUE is parking. THAT ISSUE would exist whether the group was a church, a charity, a theater group, or what-have-you.
And…YOUR ISSUE would be an issue whether the group was paying market rates, or not.
What is your real issue? Parking?? or the type of group that is renting??
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We pay taxes that support the school and the pool.
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So do those church goers.
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Would it change anyone's opinion if the principal was a member of the church?
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Why would that matter?
The church is a mega church, with members outside the city limits.
I don’t have an issue with the school providing a place for students to pray during the school day, because that does not limit my access to the pool.
The church is limiting my access to the pool, and neither building was designed for their use.
If the school rents to any groups on the same terms, renting to the church isn’t really the issue, and bringing up the church’s allegedly discriminatory practices is kind of unseemly when what you really seem to care about is parking. If the school rented to a church that didn’t discriminate, but still took your parking places, would that change your position?
Contact the Superintendent’s office. They must oversee the budget and have a say in approval of all rentals. Request that the District assign pool and handicapp spaces. If you do not get anywhere with the office, go to the Board of Education.
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If the school rented to a church that didn’t discriminate, but still took your parking places, would that change your position?
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Exactly.
I’m starting to wonder if the parking space issue isn’t really the issue because it is clear that the parking issue would STILL EXIST no matter what large group the school rented space to.
I expect the mayor would care less, as he allows developers to build housing without parking. Everyone should be walking everywhere in his opinion!
If the church did not park in the pool spaces, I doubt if I would have researched the issue.
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I expect the mayor would care less, as he allows developers to build housing without parking.
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So, is he anti handicapped people?
I would say, as a strategic matter, don’t dilute your (valid) complaint about parking with extraneous issues. They are not likely to help. The problem is that unauthorized people are parking in reserved parking spots. The solution to that is education, communication, and enforcement.
The fact that the principal is a member of the church shouldn’t change anything, EXCEPT if the organization (here a church) renting the facility is receiving an extra benefit that wouldn’t be available to any other organization that rented it.
What if it is an organization where everyone lives inside the city limits, you support their agenda, but they are still taking up the parking?
I used to live in the same city as the Westboro Baptist Church (the group that goes all over the place with offensive signs, protests at military funerals, etc). There were all sorts of issues with free speech. For example, a city park allowed people to donate a bench as a memorial or to honor someone. So Westboro Baptist Church donates a bench with what most of us would consider an offensive message. If the city wants to limit who can donate memorial benches, they get sued.
My church is in negotiations with a synagogue that is under renovation to rent them space. For the most part they want to use it when we are not using it. We are in a city and have no parking so that won’t be an issue!