It will cost Norwin youth sports teams more to use school district facilities such as the gymnasium, ball fields, swimming pool and the performing arts center in the 2027-28 school year.
On Monday, the Norwin School Board unanimously approved raising fees for community groups using its facilities.
The board approved the increases without discussion. District officials had said that there had not been an increase in fees since 2018 and that the additional revenue will help to pay for maintenance, utilities and general cleaning.
The district had changed the annual increases of 5% to 3%, beginning in the 2029-2030 school year. Some charges for the 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 school years will remain the same, including a $250 charge for using the stadium lights and $100 charge per day for using the scoreboard. Using the remodeled performing arts center will increase to $28 an hour in the 2027-2028 school year and $39 an hour the following school year.
“After meeting with and listening to our youth organizations, the board and administration refined the updated facilities fee schedules to reflect their feedback, ensuring our spaces remain accessible, financially sustainable, and supportive of the programs that positively impact Norwin’s students,” said Superintendent Natalie McCracken.
Under the approved fee schedule, community charitable organizations will pay close to 300% more than youth sports leagues for the stadium, ball fields, pool and gymnasium. Non-charitable groups will pay significantly more, in some cases 700% for use of the same facilities as the community groups.
Local sports leagues should be able to use the facilities for free, said Matthew Bilinsky, president of the Norwin Girls Youth Basketball Association.
Bilinsky acknowledged that the youth sports organizations and school district “won’t ever agree on pricing and the rental fees of the gym.”
While thanking the district for maintaining the current rates for the 2026-2027 school year, Ryan Baird, vice president of the Norwin Basketball Association and a board member of the Norwin Girls Youth Basketball Association, said he was concerned that the increases in gymnasium rental rates “would price some families out of youth basketball … and that would be a true loss.”
Based on the proposed increase in gymnasium rental rates, the cost of renting the facility for a basketball season would increase from $12,000 a season to $35,000 in five years, Baird said. The $7 an hour fee for the gymnasium would triple to $21 per hour in five years and to $28 an hour in 12 years.
Rather than setting a mandatory annual increase of 3%, which Baird contended seems unnecessary, there should be an analysis of the costs.
The process for increasing the fees for using the Norwin Knights Stadium when its $25 million renovation is completed in 2027, was done respectively and responsibly, said Stanley Gorski, president of the Norwin Youth Football and Cheer.
The football association will pay around $1,600 to rent the new stadium for an entire season of Sundays, reserving it for the entire day, Gorski said.
In other business, the board hired Colby Kelly as an assistant high school principal, to replace Brandon Kash, who resigned on Jan. 30.
Kelly was to start his new role as of Feb. 17.
