(KMJ) FRESNO, CA – Mayor Swearengin today announced that the City of Fresno intends to enter into a joint use agreement with Fresno Unified School District and Central Unified School District to open up 16 school sites on weekends for organized recreational programming and open public use of outdoor facilities.
The Administration is proposing to fund the joint use program by identifying $1.2 million in its FY 2015 carry over budget.
Phase I of the program will involve all seven comprehensive high schools in the Fresno Unified School District and two Central Unified sites by March 5, 2016. An additional seven sites would be operational by the first Saturday in May.
“Any opportunity to find more ways to engage neighborhood residents and build a sense of community that goes beyond just the four walls of a classroom is good for our school districts and good for our city.” -Mayor Ashley Swearengin.
The joint use agreement will open up designated school sites on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Programming will include organized recreational opportunities, “passive play” on the playgrounds and on the open space, and organized exercise and physical fitness opportunities for area residents.
The Administration will ask for support from the Fresno City Council on Thursday, December 17th, as a part of the carry over budget adoption.
A Request For Proposal (RFP) will be issued on Friday, December 18 to area community based organizations to identify the partners who will be running this program for the City and the school districts.
Those RFPs will be identified in early January with contracts in place by the end of January.
They will have the month of February to ramp up and get ready to launch by early March.
Once all 16 school sites are up and operating – the Mayor says she is aiming for May as a deadline – it will create an additional 340 acres of green space instantly available for Fresno residents, which would be comparable to the City opening 34-50 new parks across the community.
