Afterschool shared use of public school facilities for physical activity in North Carolina

Shared use agreements between municipalities and public schools in the United States, 2014

“…Several barriers have been identified (Young et al, 2014), including lack of community interest (Kanters et al, 2014a; Spengler et al, 2012), inadequate capacity of stakeholder agencies (Filardo et al, 2010; Spengler et al, 2012; Maddock et al, 2008), insufficient partnerships and dialogue between agencies (Vincent, 2014; Spengler et al, 2012), poor design of school facilities (Young et al, 2014), liability concerns (Spengler et al, 2012; Baker and Masud, 2010; Change Lab Solutions; Spengler et al, 2011), and costs associated with greater facility utilization (Vincent, 2010, 2014; Chriqui et al, 2012; Spengler et al, 2012; Kanters et al, 2014b). Promotional materials and resources can help municipalities understand the benefits and how to train staff to develop and implement shared use agreements (Change Lab Solutions).…”

“…Such agreements can vary from including only outdoor school facilities to including indoor facilities or both (Vincent, 2010). Agreements that cover outdoor facilities only are more common than those that include indoor facilities, perhaps in part due to the more informal nature of opening access to outdoor facilities, the types of activities undertaken in outdoor facilities compared to indoor facilities, and additional issues of cost and liability with indoor facilities (Vincent, 2010, 2014; Chace and Vilvens, 2015; Kanters et al, 2014a). However, inclusion of indoor facilities can be an important component of shared use agreements as it increases the degree and variety of accessible recreational facilities, particularly for communities in inclement weather climates or in areas where few public facilities are available.…”

“…In addition, more local level data can help identify important variation in the adoption of shared use agreements. For example, a previous study in North Carolina identified that 88.9% of school principals reported that their school had a shared use agreement (Kanters et al, 2014a). Such data may help practitioners identify locally relevant best practices in promoting and adopting shared use agreements.…”

Barriers to Shared Use of Indoor and Outdoor Facilities at US Elementary Schools

“…For example, some schools open their facilities to only organizations and not individuals, whereas some provide access to both or none. Prior work has shown that schools are more likely to share their facilities with organizations rather than children and adults who are not affiliated with a group . Data from SHPPS 2014 indicate that where a formal joint use agreement exists at the elementary school level, the most common uses are for recreation or physical activity, whether indoor (48.7% of elementary schools) or outdoor (47.5%), and that the most common sharing partners are local organizations such as the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, or Girl Scouts (36.7% of elementary schools), local parks or recreation programs (32.2%), or local faith‐based organizations (20.5%)…”

“…Furthermore, a lack of engagement with the broader community may be a factor impacting whether schools share their facilities. Research in North Carolina found that many school administrators were not aware that the members of the community surrounding their school were interested in using their facilities …”