MLSD facility fees could shut down, cripple after-school programs

MOSES LAKE — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin may not be able to offer services at multiple Moses Lake School District campuses if proposed facility usage fees are implemented, the organization’s executive director, Kim Pope said in a Thursday interview.  

“This could be devastating,” she said. “Back in May, we were notified by the school district that our contract with them would not be renewed for this coming school year.” 

Kim Pope said the organization has had a contract with the district for eight years now to provide after-school programming for students at five campuses within MLSD. Those include four elementary and one middle school, all in the lowest income areas of the school district. The cost would exceed $300,000 if her organization had to pay those fees and more than 500 students would be negatively impacted. Most of those students don’t have other options for after-school programs, and the snacks they’re given at their Boys & Girls Clubs after-school programs sometimes are the last meal they get at the end of the day due to food insecurity in their homes.  

“We call it a ‘super snack.’” Pope said. “It’s got a milk, a protein, a fruit, a vegetable and a whole grain.”  

Students also receive help with homework, age-appropriate activities and other opportunities, Pope said. The program lasts from the close of the school day until parents pick their children up between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.  

Kim Pope said she’s been frustrated with the process of trying to communicate with the district’s administration over the last few months. Meetings with MLSD staff were scheduled, rescheduled and postponed and ended up not happening, she said. The program could have continued without a contract requiring that the district pay Boys & Girls Clubs, but the additional cost of a usage fee at more than a quarter of a million dollars is something the nonprofit cannot afford, she said.  

Kim Pope said some of the problem was staff leaving. Initially, former Superintendent Monty Sabin was on the board for the nonprofit. He left once the district placed him on leave and later let him go. Then Jeremy O’Neill, the district’s former COO, was the point of contact, but he too left. Interim Superintendent Carol Lewis has been difficult to reach, she said, but is open to conversations.  

During Thursday night’s MLSD School Board meeting, Pope spoke during the public comment portion of the agenda and said a meeting was set with MLSD representatives for Monday to discuss the matter. 

Other community organizations expressed similar concerns during the meeting.  

Jared Pope, president of the Moses Lake Grid Kids Association – a youth football organization – said his organization would be impacted severely as well. Grid Kids uses three MLSD fields with low-quality turf and simple striping, he said, and the proposed costs would run nearly $8,000. He added that he felt it was disproportional to the quality of service received by his organization when the Moses Lake High School pool could be rented seasonally for $3,000 and the pool is the district’s most expensive facility.  

“It’s going to affect kids because prices are going to go up,” he said. “We have 300 kids involved in Grid Kids Football, and that’s been our concern. We’ve been 300 to 320 for the last ten years, and that’s a lot of kids that are doing something positive, learning something to take home and be better people.”  

Derrik Gonzoles, who operates a nonprofit youth soccer program, expressed similar concerns. If implemented, he said, the fees would force his nonprofit to drop plans to operate during the early spring months when outdoor fields aren’t available.  

While Kim Pope said it would have been easy to close the after-school programs, she’s not going to do that because she feels it would be the wrong decision and too many children would miss out on needed resources. She’s spoken with a variety of other possible sites, but all have transportation logistics issues and other concerns that make them unfeasible. 

“The easy thing  would be to say, ‘Oh, can’t do it. Guess we’ll have to close.’ But, that’s the wrong thing to do. It’s the absolute wrong thing to do for these kids,” she said.  

Correction: Derrick Gonzales's name was initially misspelled above.

    Kim Pope, executive director for Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin, speaks during Thursday night's Moses Lake School District board meeting.