Kaneland lowers gym fees for feeder sports leagues

Youth sports leagues that want to use gymnasiums at Kaneland High School this fall and winter got a break Monday night on costs.

The school board decided that the district was asking too much for renting the gyms, and will just charge a flat $500 fee per season.

Earlier this year, the board voted to charger feeder programs such as the Kaneland Silver Stars and Kaneland Cagers basketball teams $25 an hour to use the east gym, and $15 an hour to use the auxiliary and west gyms. It also planned to charge $25 an hour for the teams to use the gym at the former Kaneland Middle School next door.

Previously, it charged nothing.

The leagues used gyms about six hours a week from October through March. If they did so this winter, they would be paying $3,500 to $4,000, said Julie-Ann Fuchs, the district's associate superintendent.

"We did not mean to gouge anyone," board President Teresa Graue Witt said. The board meant for fees to recoup some of the costs, such as utilities.

Board members Pedro Rivas and Veronica Bruhl abstained from the vote. Bruhl wanted more information about whether the flat fee should be the same as the flat fee charged for outdoor field use, which is $500, or if the district should lower that fee.