ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Shaniqua Leak’s youth sports organization can’t afford the $200 daily fee to rent gym space from the Allentown School District.
So she came to the school board asking for help ahead of the approaching basketball season.
Leak's story prompted school directors to question whether ASD's facilities rental rules are fair for small community organizations.
“We’re keeping 60 kids off the street for two hours for five nights a week, and I think that’s something big for the city,” said Leak, co-founder and president of Hard Work & Dedication Youth Association, at a Thursday school board meeting.
“I’m not understanding why we have to pay $200 a night when we’re doing a service for the community,” added Leak, who’s also a district parent and paraprofessional.
Leak's story prompts discussion
Some Allentown School Board members agreed that a small nonprofit organization serving Allentown students shouldn’t have to pay to use ASD space.
But that’s not in line with the current version of policy 707 that governs the use of facilities, and was approved by the board in June 2023.
“I think our priorities are a little mixed up. ... I think that we need to rethink that.”Lisa Conover, school director
“I think our priorities are a little mixed up,” said school Director Lisa Conover. “I think that we need to rethink that.”
The board will receive a presentation on the current policy in January. Directors will then continue their discussion about how and if the policy needs to be changed to better serve Allentown students and community organizations like Leak’s.
The Hard Work & Dedication Youth Association has been offering basketball and flag football programs for Lehigh Valley children ages 4 to 14 since 2020, Leak said.
The basketball season starts in January and runs through March. The organization also offers a Jr. NBA program to teach children basketball fundamentals. In the spring, flag football starts.
Leak estimated about 95% of students in the programs are from Allentown.
Families can't afford extra expense
Students have been using the gyms at Central, Hays and Jefferson elementary schools for practice over the last four years through Allentown’s Lights On Afterschool program; but because ASD is not working with the program anymore, Leak said, her organization has attempted to rent the space on its own.
Leak was originally told her nonprofit would be classified as a tier one organization, meaning there would be no facilities fee, but that wasn't the case, she said.
Parents already pay $100 for their students to participate in the sports program, Leak added, and she’s not willing to ask them to pay more to cover the facilities fee. They can’t afford it, she said, and her organization already sponsors many students.
“I know there’s other people that have been taking advantage of us, but when it comes to nonprofits – who do not make a profit and they’re taking care of our students – I think those fees should be waived,” said school Director Phoebe Harris.
Not all nonprofits are equal
ASD solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said nonprofits are not all the same.
“I can guarantee you that there are a number of nonprofits, perhaps very similar to the nonprofit who is here, that are eking by, and this will impose a great hardship on their operation,” he said.
“On the other hand, there are many other nonprofits that we do business with that can very easily afford to [pay] this and may in fact have larger budgets than we have as the Allentown School District.”
Harris said it’s the small nonprofits that give back to ASD students that she thinks shouldn't have to pay a fee.
Policy 707 allows ASD booster clubs and parent teacher organizations to use facilities for free. All other groups fall into three categories that are based on the percentage of Allentown residents in the organization.
Free opportunities already exist
The groups are subject to a usage fee and an additional fee for custodial and security costs.
“We probably have more than $250 million of deferred maintenance in the district, so when people use our facilities, we have to have a way of capturing how we repair them."Carol Birks, ASD superintendent
“We probably have more than $250 million of deferred maintenance in the district, so when people use our facilities, we have to have a way of capturing how we repair them,” said Superintendent Carol Birks.
Birks said ASD already partners with small nonprofits, allowing them to use space for free. These partners are selected by principals at individual schools.
Conover said she wants to find ways to support community groups like Hard Work & Dedication Youth Association that aren’t already benefiting from these school partnerships.
“We have to think about the larger organization in service to the children in the daytime first,” Birks said.
The district administration will present on the current rental policy next month.
They will share data about how many nonprofits ASD works with and fiscal information related to the facilities policy.
