City and school district discuss shared use of facilities

In plain English

This is a continued discussion by the joint committee of Scotts Valley city officials and Scotts Valley Unified School District officials about an agreement that would let the community use school facilities. At the committee's March 4, 2026 meeting, members talked about possible public use of the sports courts at the schools and raised maintenance concerns, and Superintendent Krause said he would meet with the school principals about joint use of the facilities. No agreement terms are settled; this item continues that conversation.

Residents who want to use school sports courts and grounds outside school hours — including seniors, pickleball players, and children — would be affected, as would neighbors near the middle school and whoever ends up paying to maintain the shared facilities.

Key facts

Item 3 at the March 4, 2026 joint meeting was "Continued discussion regarding shared facility use agreement"; committee members discussed potential use of the sports courts at the schools as well as maintenance concerns.
Superintendent Krause said he would meet with the school principals to discuss joint use of the facilities.
Public speaker Heidi Denger said the community needs access to school facilities and suggested using the Recreation app for reservations.
Public speaker Wendy Crockett raised noise concerns about pickleball at the middle school, supported seniors accessing the schools, and raised kids accessing facilities outside of school hours.
The March 4, 2026 joint committee meeting adjourned at 2:35 PM; minutes were approved 4/0 (AYES: Jett, Timm, Snyder, Redenbacher).

Reasons to support

Members of the public told the committee the community needs access to school facilities, including seniors and children who want to use them outside school hours.
School sports courts already exist and sit unused outside school hours; an agreement with a reservation system, such as the Recreation app suggested at the March 4 meeting, could open them without building anything new.

Reasons to oppose or change it

Committee members themselves flagged maintenance concerns — opening school courts to public use raises the question of whether the city or the district pays for upkeep and repairs.
A neighbor raised noise concerns about pickleball at the middle school, so nearby residents could face regular noise from expanded evening and weekend play.

Official wording

Shared Facility Use Agreement discussion

Official agenda

Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Staff report (agenda packet, page 4). It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.