Great Neck school board OKs fees for facility use

The Great Neck school board voted on Monday to begin charging some outside groups for using school facilities, such as playing fields.

Previously, such groups were able to use many school facilities for free.

Before the vote, Superintendent Thomas Dolan said the district needed to recoup some of the expenses of allowing outside groups to use its facilities, especially in light of the state-mandated tax cap.

“Until now, there was almost unrestricted access to our facilities for free,” Dolan said, adding that the tax-cap pressure meant that continuing such access would cut into instructional budgets.

“This is not a moneymaking venture,” he said.

The adopted fee schedule includes a sliding scale, based on the fees that the outside groups charge their participants, and includes different categories depending on what type of group wants to use the facilities.

Several speakers expressed concerns about the fees, but the district said it would work with groups who want to use the facilities.

“Any group that will come to us will have a receptive ear in making this work,” Dolan said.

“We’re not looking to put anybody out of business.”