by Mark McDermott
The City of Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach Unified School District have reached a new ten-year agreement that expands public access to district facilities.
The agreement, which was unanimously approved at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, will generate much-needed revenue for MBUSD, starting at $895,000 a year with inflation hikes of up to $40,000 per year based on the Consumer Price Index.
“This is monumental,” said Councilperson Steve Napolitano.
The City and school district formerly worked on a year-to-year agreement, Napolitano noted, then extended that to a six-year agreement in 2018.
“And now we’re doing a 10-year contract that gives peace of mind to the district because they’re able to plan their budget,” he said. As you know, the state requires [the district] to have three years projections for their budget. This helps tremendously in that it expands our access to the properties and the amenities that the public uses on a regular basis, and it benefits the district overall because it provides support for education. And that provides benefits for the entire community. So it’s a good agreement.”
A decade ago, the City and MBUSD entered an agreement to provide open space for the community, including Polliwog Park, which the district owns. The agreement included public access to 14 facilities with approximately 23 acres of open space including playing fields, swimming pools, and outdoor tennis and basketball court space. A six-year agreement in 2018 was scheduled to end in 2024, but in order to obtain $949,000 in grant funding to provide new playground equipment at Polliwog, the City needed a longer agreement.
“It provides a carve-out for a land tenure grant deed for almost $1 million in grant funds that was necessary,” said Mark Leyman, the City’s director of Parks and Recreation. “And so they did carve that out to allow 30 years, or virtually in perpetuity that this will be the playground space for the community.”
The agreement allows community access to the Mira Costa High School pool for 1.5 hours Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as weekly access to the MCHS small gym two nights a week and for six weeks each summer for the Sunset Basketball League. The agreement also provides eight weeks of classroom use for City summer camp programming. Other elements of the deal include a provision allowing children of City employees who live out of the area to attend MBUSD schools and “general field usage” guidelines that ensure eight weeks of field rehab each year, as well as the exclusion of access to West Field.
“We want those fields pristine and it’s a well-oiled machine working together to set that schedule up,” Leyman said.
Councilperson Amy Howorth, who formerly served on the MBUSD school board, recalled that before the council worked towards a formal agreement the City and school district had an informal agreement that paid the district only $1 per year.
“I’m super proud because six years ago, I was on the council and made this happen and actually brought this joint use agreement to this community….This benefits the entire community,” she said, noting she’d first approached Mayor Richard Montgomery regarding the agreement when she was still on the school board. But Howorth said the new agreement vastly improves the previous framework, such as not having to renegotiate gym use for the summer league every year.
“There are so many things in this agreement that benefit us that are cleaned up, and I think it’s a terrific agreement, not to mention the 10 years,” she said. “So well done, everybody.”
“The ongoing partnership is strong between the City and school district,” said Leyman.
The school board was scheduled to approve the agreement at its Wednesday night meeting.
“The new 10-year Master Agreement symbolizes the strengthening of our relationship with the City and unity within our community,” said Cathey Graves, MBUSD board president. “It’s a giant step that exemplifies our commitment to offering vital recreational facilities and opportunities to the residents of Manhattan Beach, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact it has on the well-being of our community.
“We appreciate the partnership and the ongoing collaboration with the City of Manhattan Beach,” said MBUSD Superintendent John Bowes. “We are proud that our school facilities will continue to serve as spaces for the larger community to enjoy, foster recreational opportunities, and enrich lives.” ER
