Council agrees to student rate for non-District 67 schools

PENTICTON – After weeks of dicussion, the city's only French school will get a price break on using city facilities.

Penticton City Council took a lengthy look at school rate pricing for the use of city facilities earlier this week. The re-examination of the school pricing policy came following a request from the city’s only French school, Ecole Entre-Lacs, which asked for a contractual arrangement for guaranteed usage of recreation facilities similar to that offered to School District 67.

Council asked staff to to develop a non-School District 67 school rate pricing model and options at an April council meeting. 

Staff presented a number of pricing options to council, specific to the facility being used. Staff also noted West Kelowna as being the only municipality in the region offering non-school districts free facility access.

Council was told pool use was constant and in high demand most of the day. Options chosen by council ranged from 30 to 50 per cent reductions in the group rate for pool usage, with council eventually agreeing to charge 50 per cent off drop-in rates for groups of 30 or more students, working out to $2.03 per child, for non-School District 67 use of the Penticton Community Centre Pool.

“At 50 per cent, I think that’s a good way to promote healthy activity and encouraging the kids, because it is an affordable activity they can do with their family, perhaps after being exposed to it in school,” Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said.

Coun. Max Picton was singularly opposed to the move, out of fairness to School District 67.

“They do essentially pay us for these services, that’s the only reason I have a hard time going for such high per cent ages,” he said.

Council also agreed to a 50 per cent reduction in current local youth non-profit rates for use of McLaren Park Arena, and 25 per cent off current local youth non-profit rates for the Cleland Theatre and other city facilities.

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