Community Use of School Facilities

Most of Texas’ public schools open their doors for after-hours use by the public.  School districts that permit community use of their facilities do so as a public service, in recognition of the community’s contribution to the public schools. Districts that permit such use need to consider a host of related legal and policy issues. 

  1. School facilities are not automatically open for public use.   Normally, all school facilities are operated for school purposes and therefore are not public.  For example, classrooms are used during the school day for instruction only.  In the words of the United States Supreme Court, “Nowhere have we suggested that students, teachers, or anyone else has an absolute constitutional right to use all parts of a school building or its immediate environs for … unlimited expressive purposes.”  Grayned v. City of Rockford.

  2. Policy and use agreements should protect the district’s ability to access its own facilities for school purposes.  School officials may not lease school property for community use in a way that might interfere with the primary educational purpose of the facilities.  For example, a court declared void a school district’s long-term lease of a football stadium to a corporation.

  3. District should charge a reasonable fee for community use, if only to recover the cost of operations (including utilities, wear and tear and personnel costs, if any). The Texas Constitution prohibits school districts from spending district resources to serve nonschool purposes.  Arguably, charging no fees at all constitutes an improper “gift of public funds,” if the district is spending it resources to keep its doors open for nonschool use.

  4. Charging different fees based on the viewpoints expressed by participating groups is illegal viewpoint discrimination.

  5. A community group’s direct payment of compensation to district staff who works to keep a facility open may lead to violation of federal law. The federal Fair Labor Standards act requires a school district employer to pay overtime to non-exempt employees who work more then 40 hours in a week.

  6. Organizations or individuals using school facilities shall release the District from liability for personal injury and/or damages to personal property. All groups using school facilities shall be responsible for the cost of damages incurred during their use.

  7. Priorities for scheduling the use of school facilities shall be as follows:

    1. The regularly scheduled educational program, including instructional activities: meetings, practices, and performances of school-sponsored groups and staff meetings related to official school business.

    2. Meetings and other activities of school support groups organized for the sole purpose of supporting the schools or school-sponsored activities

    3. Meetings and other activities of groups made up primarily of school-aged children.

    4. Meetings of employee organizations

Facility fees shall not apply to meeting of employee organizations:

(DGA Legal – “employee organizations” means any organization in which employees participate that exists, in whole or in part, to deal with one or more employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours of employment or working conditions.)

    1. Meetings and activities of other groups on a first-come, first-served basis.

  1. Organizations using school facilities shall:

    1. Conduct their business in an orderly manner

    2. Abide by all laws and policies, including but not limited to those prohibiting the use, sale or possession of alcoholic beverages, illegal drugs and firearms and the use of tobacco products on school property

    3. Make no alteration, temporary or permanent to school property without prior written consent from the Superintendent.

  2. Nonschool materials shall not be distributed if:

    1. The materials are obscene, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate for the age and maturity of the audience.

    2. The materials endorse actions endangering the health or safety of students.

    3. The distribution of such materials would violate the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other rights of another person.

    4. The materials contain defamatory statements about public figures or others.

    5. The materials criticize Board members or school officials or advocate violations of school rules and fall within the standard described at Limitations on Expression at FNAA.

    6. The materials advocate imminent lawless or disruptive action and are likely to incite or produce such action.

    7. The materials include hate literature and scurrilously attacks ethnic, religious or racial groups and similar publications aimed at creating hostility and violence if they fall within the standard described at Limitations on expression at FNAA*legal

This site was last updated Saturday, August 25, 2007

It is the policy of Tyler Independent School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, or age in its employment practices as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.