SEQUIM — Recent rental rate increases for Sequim School District’s facilities and fields have led some community groups to shift venues and events due to cost concerns.
In response, district staff paused the new rates for 60 days in order to meet with the groups.
“Our goal is to have a fee schedule that is fair and equitable across all groups,” Sequim School District Superintendent Regan Nickels said.
She said discussions to revise the rates from 2019 were started in fall 2024 but paused for other priorities, such as preparations for proposing a construction bond and levy renewal this past February.
Nickels said a committee reviewed policies and procedures related to fees in May. The district then sent a letter to 41 stakeholders in mid-July and met with many of them on July 29 about the proposed rates. The pause was implemented two days later.
Nickels told board members at the Aug. 18 meeting that she heard from groups that the fee increases were implemented too quickly and increases were too much for certain facilities, including the auditorium.
District staff planned to continue meeting with groups through the end of August, Nickels said, and after initial meetings, they’ve already worked up some potential updates.
“Groups have been fair with their dialogue,” she said. “They recognize the need to have a fee schedule (but) they want it to be done so it’s gradual.”
Rate classes
The district has pricing structured for four classifications:
• Class A: for parent, youth and/or teacher groups, i.e. PTA, booster clubs and educational foundations.
• Class B: Youth nonprofit social, civic and recreation groups where membership is predominantly 90 percent-plus made up of students in Sequim School District, i.e. scout groups, Campfire Girls, and community athletic youth teams and civic organizations.
• Class C: Adult nonprofit organizations, youth nonprofits with 89 percent or less youth from Sequim, community clubs, post-secondary institutions, cultural and political groups.
• Class D: For profit business-related enterprises.
Under the new proposed rates, rentals remain nearly free for Class A use so long as the group or event remains within its time allotted.
For Class B groups, there were previously no charges in 2019 rates, but now each category will be charged at least something, ranging from $5 per tennis court per hour to $35 per hour in the Sequim High School gym.
Depending on if a group is categorized as Class C or D, facility and field use went up a range of $5 to $35 per hour for use.
The auditorium space saw the largest increase with new charges for youth nonprofits, as they weren’t previously charged. Class B’s new proposed rate for rehearsals on the stage is $340 per four hours or $600 per eight hours. Performances could be $450 or $900 for four- or eight-hour performances, not including custodial staff service ($75 per hour) and custodial supplies ($120 per event).
Costs for both Class C and D renters are higher than Class B in the auditorium, with the maximum total at $2,000 to rent the auditorium for eight hours as a for-profit business, plus custodial staff and supply fees.
Nickels told school board directors on Aug. 18 that the revised fees will not recoup all of the costs associated with each use. She said they factored in comparable school districts’ rates, general cost increases, labor, utilities and wear on the facilities.
Ghostlight pauses ‘Cinderella’
In an Aug. 15 email to supporters, Ghostlight Productions’ organizers announced it will pause the upcoming production of “Cinderella” from the auditorium this fall until tentatively early 2026 due to the proposed increase in rental fees.
Under the district’s proposed rates, the group’s rental costs would exceed $12,000 per production, a 566 percent increase from current rates, they estimate.
The production company wrote a letter to Nickels asking district staff to reconsider the fees while emphasizing its partnership with the district with technical support, in-kind contributions and collaboration with school productions.
In Ghostlight’s email to supporters, organizers wrote that “if no resolution can be reached, Ghostlight may be forced to relocate future productions to alternative venues — though such options are limited on the Olympic Peninsula.”
They also could consider raising ticket prices but feel that would go against its mission for equitability.
Pageant expenditures
Another group that could be impacted is the Sequim Irrigation Festival, which uses the high school cafeteria and auditorium for its scholarship pageant rehearsal and main event.
Michelle Rhodes, director of the Sequim Irrigation Festival, said they currently pay about $300 per year. Under the proposed fees and required custodial services, it could cost the all-volunteer, nonprofit group nearly $7,000 to follow the same rental usage as years past.
The group uses the cafeteria twice a week from mid-November to mid-February for hour-and-a-half practices, and the auditorium for two three-hour practices and a full day for the main event.
“We like to keep (practices) on campus to reduce any barriers for students being able to attend,” Rhodes said.
“We have had several in the past come straight from clubs/sports practices, and having it on campus helps them and their parents (if they aren’t driving) with transportation coordination.
“Now we will need to find a location off campus.”
As for the auditorium, she said it’s the only facility with capacity and a stage for the pageant, which has had the same format for decades — and one they’d like to preserve for years to come.
“While we aren’t opposed to change, there are certain elements like the creative display and impromptu questions that we feel are important to keep,” Rhodes said. “As well, many of our contestants have been to a pageant in the past and they want that same experience; it is part of the tradition.”
Rhodes said they’d be willing to pay more, but at the current rate, she’s unsure what the festival would do next if the fees remain as proposed.
Wolf Pack moves
Sequim Wolf Pack, a football program for about 89 boys ages 6-12 and about 50 girls in the cheer program, has moved its practices from Sequim School District’s practice fields to Sequim Little League’s T-ball fields due to the new fees.
They started practicing at the high school in 2010 when the program began, and they moved to Sequim Middle School in 2024 before the recent shift.
Organizers said they’ll pay to use the stadium for games but not likely for practices due to costs.
Stephanie Whitehead, treasurer for Sequim Wolf Pack, wrote in a statement that they “understand that maintaining facilities comes with costs, (but) charging fees in excess of $6,000 to a small youth nonprofit is absurd and unsustainable.”
“We have always had a good working relationship with the district, and as a youth nonprofit organization, we have never been charged these kinds of fees before,” Whitehead wrote.
She also shared concerns about the lack of clarity where fees will go, annual increases to rentals, and no available waivers as the program supports the district’s athletic programs.
“Ultimately, these fees risk dissolving youth programs and taking away opportunities from kids, and that’s what’s really at stake here,” Whitehead wrote.
More on fees
For the auditorium, Nickels said they’re trying to better understand the costs for utilities in certain spaces while trying to reestablish formerly used spaces such as Hendrickson Field.
She said these fees would not fully cover all of that rehabilitation, and would support painting lines on fields or recoating floors, such as the recently rehabilitated gym at Sequim Middle School.
“That is a new level of cost that the district is incurring,” Nickels said.
When speaking at the school board meeting, she also said the district must be careful with its gift of public funds, in regard to fees for spaces.
“It has to be fair,” she said.
Nickels said many different groups have had different pay rate agreements with the district over the years.
Collected fees have varied each year and typically have been less than $10,000 a school year, district staff said.
Nickels said they are trying to work with the groups. For example, if a district staff member is involved with the group, they can be the representative who lets participants in and turns lights on and off.
She said there are differences to be made between practices and tournaments that significantly impact cleanup and staff time.
Nickels encouraged groups to reach out to the district at 360-582-3276 if they need to reserve a space for future use as rates are still to be determined.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com. He has family employed and enrolled in the Sequim School District.
