Starting Nov. 11, PAUSD will directly manage its athletic fields and courts, ending a long-term agreement under which the City of Palo Alto had overseen these facilities. Since 2014, Palo Alto has managed maintenance, reservations for external organizations and public access to the recreational sites across PAUSD schools, including all 24 tennis courts. Currently, the city operates these athletic courts and fields after 4 p.m. on weekdays, weekends and holidays. Under the new plan, PAUSD will assume these responsibilities, including reservations for the community and public.
This change in management marks a turning point in how athletic spaces will be maintained and accessed across the city. While the partnership between the city and district has provided shared opportunities for students and residents, PAUSD officials said that direct management will give the district more flexibility and opportunities to focus on and address school-specific issues, such as running the facilities with a higher level of care.
According to PAUSD Supervisor of Theatre Production and Facility Rental Kyle Langdon, new management will allow the district to better align its facility use with students without compromising public availability.
“This transition allows the district to directly maintain and operate grass fields and tennis courts at the same or higher standard of care for school use, while continuing to make them available to the community,” he said.
Although this decision affects the athletic fields at PAUSD middle schools — Greene Middle School and Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School — as well as the tennis and basketball courts at Greene, JLS, Paly and Gunn, not all facilities will be impacted. The grass field and the tennis and basketball courts next to Fletcher Middle School, which are part of Terman Park, will remain under city management. With PAUSD handling the operations, many student athletes, including softball player senior Makena Smith, have optimism that repairs and upgrades will be enacted faster than under the city.
“If the district becomes more responsive than the city, the first thing I would want fixed is the backfield near the softball field,” she said. “It’s such a big space, and so many teams could benefit from it, but it’s just unsafe. When it rains, it gets so muddy that we can’t even practice safely.”
Addressing student concerns such as these are a key reason for the shift. Athletic Director Justin Halas explained that by taking on the maintenance and scheduling responsibilities directly, the district can prioritize student-athlete safety, school events and physical education programs.
“This change could mean improved access, safer conditions and more predictable scheduling,” he said. “The goal is to make sure student use and safety always come first.”
