State Board of Education

Marva Johnson, Chair Andy Tuck, Vice Chair Members Gary Chartrand Ben Gibson Tom Grady

Michael Olenick Joe York

Background

Report of the Shared Use Task Force (2018) Pursuant to Chapter 2017-116, Laws of Florida

Pam Stewart Commissioner of Education

In 2017, the Florida Legislature found that greater public access to recreation and sports facilities was needed to reduce health care expenditures and to improve personal health and wellness for the citizens of Florida. With this goal in mind, the 2017 Florida Legislature passed section 66 of House Bill (HB) 7069, which was enacted in chapter 2017-116, Laws of Florida, and codified into law as section 1013.101, Florida Statutes. HB 7069 required the formation of a Shared Use Task Force to identify barriers to creating shared use agreements and to make recommendations to facilitate the shared use of school facilities generally and in high-need communities.

Legislative Findings and Intent In HB 7069, the Florida Legislature described its intent as follows:

The Legislature finds that greater public access to recreation and sports facilities is needed to reduce the impact of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases on personal health and health care expenditures. Public schools are equipped with taxpayer-funded indoor and outdoor recreation facilities that offer easily accessible opportunities for physical activity for residents of the community. The Legislature also finds that it is the policy of the state for district school boards to allow the shared use of school buildings and property by adopting policies allowing for shared use and implementing shared use agreements with local governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. The Legislature intends to increase the number of school districts that open their playground facilities to community use outside of school hours.

Task Force The shared use task force was composed of seven appointed members representing school districts (2), public health (1), community-based programs in high-need communities (2) and recreational organizations (2).

School district representatives: • Michael Levine, executive director facilities planning, Miami-Dade County School District • Joseph B. "Joey" Harrell, assistant superintendent for Administrative Services, Santa Rosa

County School District

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Public health department representative: • Chair, Claudia Blackbum, assistant professor, Health Officer, Florida Department of Health

in Leon County and Florida State University College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine

Community-based programs in high-need communities' representatives: • Vice Chair, Tamara Price, statewide director, Help Me Grow Florida, The Children's Forum • Vacant2

Recreational organizations representatives: • Eleanor Warmack, executive director, Florida Recreation and Park Association • Elizabeth Bermers, teacher

The shared use task force met by teleconference on the following dates: May 3, 2018, May 9, 2018, and on May 23, 2018, and reached consensus on the findings and recommendations herein.

Defming Shared Use Agreements A shared use agreement refers to a written agreement between a school district and one or more public or private entities setting forth the terms and conditions for sharing the use of the district's or communities' facilities. A shared use agreement can allow community access to school property and can allow the district to share with another agency the costs and risks associated with opening the property for after-hours use.

The task force identified benefits, barriers and solutions in four categories that impact shared use of facilities: Relationships, Financial, Liability and Insurance, and Staffing and Scheduling.

Relationships: Benefits, Barriers and Solutions A successful shared use arrangement is dependent upon strong relationships between school officials, the neighborhood community and third-party organizations, such as after-school programs, youth club activities or athletic leagues. The lack of strong relationships among these stakeholders can be a barrier to entering into and sustaining a shared use agreement. Conversely, having a well-defined, successful shared use agreement can strengthen the relationships among these stakeholders.

When schools are used for other activities outside of the normal school day by students and parents, they are more likely to develop a feeling of ownership and pride in the school. This could lead to more parental involvement and volunteerism within the school and could encourage social interaction among residents, enabling mutual support. With extended use of facilities and a larger community presence, reduced vandalism and tagging could be a welcome result.

2 The second community-based representative was appointed, but resigned on May 14, 2018.

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Lack of community partners and neighborhood opposition can present a barrier to a successful shared use agreement. Working with local parent-teacher groups and organizations may help identify needs and potential partner organizations. Local parent-teacher groups and organizations are a great starting point in determining local needs. Community parks and recreation groups are another good point of contact for identifying needs and other available resources for both the school and community partners. Developing open communications with neighborhood organizations when planning and scheduling activities helps foster positive relations within communities. As a best practice, school districts are encouraged to keep a CWTent, updated long­range schedule available to the public online. Doing so provides a way for the community to keep up to date about activities at schools in their area and the ability to plan accordingly.

Posting district and/or school contacts to the public provides the community a point of contact, should questions or concerns arise. Long-range scheduling of facilities and programs can be used to promote the additional resources available to the general public that would otherwise not be available or be out of reach for some, especially in lower income neighborhoods.

The convenience for school students to participate in city recreational programs without having to travel to another site reduces transportation issues for parents in the community. This is particularly true in underserved communities. The partnerships created through shared use agreements provides a positive environment for children.

The signing of an agreement is far from the end of the relationship; rather, it is the beginning. Relationships continue long after an agreement is signed. Agreements need to be reviewed annually including the schooVdistrict and the community partner's role. These reviews should be limited to minor adjustments of the agreement, not wholesale changes. Negotiated agreements should be honored when key personnel (e.g., principal, park director, youth-league volunteer) change, rather than be renegotiated mid-stream. One way to minimize or eliminate wholesale changes and renegotiations is to have one district/school contact to lead negotiations and manage shared use agreements. Creating a single point of contact helps ensure agreements are consistently negotiated, applied and managed. The development and implementation of one standard set of procedures and/or documents in conformance with district procurement criteria and best-practices is the next logical step in ensuring agreements are consistently negotiated, applied and managed. When implemented district-wide, the ability for district/school and community partners to offer services in more communities becomes much easier and further increases opportunities for both the district and community partners to work together.

One frequently occurring barrier to community use of school facilities is the risk of community activities having to be rescheduled (or "bumped") due to the school's conflicting use of the facility after hours. How can the district/school and community partners minimize bumping the other from a planned use of facilities for last minute events? Short of a natural disaster or a mechanical or electrical failure at a facility, steps can be put in place to minimize bumping. The long-range plan is a good starting point. Having a plan in place allows the opportunity to show all facilities available to host an event. Another critical component is a good working relationship between the district/school and its community partner. If a scheduled event must be changed, it is important the impacted party knows everything possible was done to prevent it.

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Financial: Benefits, Barriers and Solutions

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While the sharing of facilities and resources between a school district and its community partners could present some financial concerns, the potential financial barriers, in many cases, can be overcome by the benefits and logical solutions to the financial concerns. When shared use agreements are negotiated and implemented fairly, both parties can benefit financially.

Shared use agreements between the school district and the community partner could ultimately result in a reduction in redundancy of facilities, while increasing opportunities for supervised activities, especially in high-need areas. Reducing redundancy of facilities also opens up the possibility to decreased operating costs, by reductions in equipment, utilities and maintenance. Maximizing access to existing facilities rather than constructing new facilities is cost effective and would be the most efficient use of public facilities, as well as public funds.

With the increased use of a facility, comes increased wear and tear, maintenance, custodial and utility requirements. Performing pre-use and post-use inspections of facilities to accurately identify facility issues and the party responsible for repairs and/or replacement as described in the negotiated agreement, reduces potential conflicts. Working together provides the opportunity for pooling resources, such as land acquisition, construction of recreational facilities, staffs and equipment (both maintenance and recreational). Development of a uniform district-wide fee schedule for services and expenses (e.g., setup, take down, cleaning, utilities, after-hours staffing requirements) could offset some operating costs. The option to augment district/school staffing with the community partner's staff, as previously discussed, provides the opportunity for cost saving for both parties.

Concessions can also provide income when a fee is paid by a concessionaire. This can take many forms, from a food truck to a building used for this purpose. Securing unauthorized access to the balance of a school facility due to the design/layout of the school could create an additional expense, but through physical security modifications and the use of district staff and/or community volunteers, the cost to monitor activity around the campus during activities/events could be reduced.

Liability and Insurance: Benefits, Barriers and Solutions While the sharing of facilities and resources between a school district and its community can present liability and/or insurance concerns, many potential issues may be overcome by the benefits of cost sharing as well as shared responsibilities. When shared use agreements are negotiated and implemented fairly, both parties can benefit.

When sharing facilities, the cost to provide insurance and bear the burden of liability can be shared, resulting in potential savings for both partners. The use of any existing park or school within a given municipality or county also has the potential of reducing insurance costs. Increased use and extended hours of facilities provides more "eyes on the street," which can lead to a reduction in break-ins, vandalism and crimes in general. Development of a Master Joint Use Agreement with municipalities, county government, or community partners that define insurance and liability requirements and expectations allows partners the ability to plan ahead for funding requirements. Taking advantage of umbrella agreements authorizing staff to add/delete/modify individual parks or school sites increases consistency between both parties. It is a best practice to

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negotiate and specify each party's responsibility for maintenance and/or damage to facilities/equipment in the shared use agreement.

Staffing and Scheduling: Benefits, Barriers and Solutions While the sharing of facilities and resources between a school district and its community can present some staffing concerns, most staffing issues can be overcome with strategic long-range schedule planning, and the use of both the school district and community organizations' existing staffs. When shared use agreements are negotiated and implemented fairly, both parties share the responsibility for staffing events.

Shared use agreements between the school districts and their community partners could result in an overall reduction of staff required to operate events separately. The ability to augment staffing with utilization of the community partner's staff relieves the burden of one entity having the full responsibility of staffing. Additional staff responsible for opening and/or closing facilities, custodial, maintenance, pre-and post-facility and equipment inspections, safety and supervision would be required. Having staff from both the district/school and its community partner present at the pre-and post-inspections could go a long way in eliminating questions regarding the facilities conditions and disputes. The use of existing staff that is familiar with the facilities and the neighborhood would be a logical choice consideration for staffing.

District/school staff should be familiar with the school and much of the neighborhood, while the staff from the community partner would have a better understanding of its organization and its attendees. Working jointly allows for issues to be worked out together rather than escalating. Scheduling issues between schools and community partners can become problematic, from gaining access to facilities when schools are closed after hours, on the weekend, holidays and for the summer to conflicting after-hour uses or unavailability.

Even when short notice is given that requires a schedule change, such as the facility being opened as an emergency shelter, long-range scheduling is a helpful tool in rescheduling events and identifying those effected. Also long-range scheduling can assist in identifying issues with the availability of facilities and staff scheduling, which allows ample time to resolve conflicts. Long-range scheduling also enables tracking of areas of increased activity for both usage and ongoing staff responsibilities. Designating a specific district contact and/or department to respond to requests and coordinate event scheduling promotes ease of contact and consistency.

The following link provides a shared use task force tool kit published in 2010 by Planning for Healthy Places, a project of Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP), and cited herein with permission:

http://www.chanl!elabsolutions.org, sites/default/files/CA Joint Use Toolkit FINAL %28CLS 20120530%29 2010.01.28.pdf.

In accordance with HB 7069, upon submission ofthis report, the shared use task force expires.

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