Mathews School Board members received a request Tuesday night from a representative of the Court House Players to do something about the fees it charges to use the Mathews High School auditorium.

“I’m just here to plead for community theater,” said Meryl Lusher Clark during the public comment period at the start of Tuesday’s meeting, which was held in the MHS media center.

Holding a play or musical at MHS has become cost prohibitive for the volunteer theater group, Clark said. The rental costs have jumped from $1,385 in 2009 to $3,570 this year, she said. The fees have also made it unaffordable for the Missoula Children’s Theatre to hold its weeklong performing arts camp at MHS for the past two years, she said.

The Court House Players, both as a group and individually, made large contributions to the MHS auditorium when it was built 13 years ago with the understanding that the school division would work to ensure that fees remained reasonable for the group’s use of the facility, Clark said. “We should have had a grandfather clause.”

“These buildings are community buildings,” said school board member Jen Little. “I don’t know what the magic number is (as far as fees are concerned, but) … something needs to be worked out,” she said.

Fellow board member Linda Hodges, who identified herself as a member of the Court House Players, said it was “a pretty widespread understanding” that when the Harry M. Ward Auditorium was built, the Court House Players would use the facility “collaboratively” with the school division.

“I’m in agreement that we need to revisit this,” board member Lanell Jarvis said, adding that she would like to know the actual cost to the school division for the facility’s use. Board members agreed to schedule the item for its April meeting.

In other news, the board approved a resolution calling for the refinancing of bonds that paid for the MHS auditorium and renovations to the school. Currently, about $1.7 million is still owed on the project. The refinancing is being done to take advantage of lower interest rates (from about 4.5 percent to slightly under 2 percent), with the money saved expected to go toward the purchase of a chiller unit for MHS.

Little said she was concerned that this refinancing had been sprung on school board members at the last minute, that there is no guarantee from county supervisors that the money will go toward the chiller and that the supervisors may use some of the money for other capital needs unrelated to the school division, with the high school building and property being used as collateral.

“I feel like I don’t have enough information,” she said, although she did eventually vote for it because “we don’t even have a choice.” A representative from bond counsel Sands Anderson PC said the bond issue is scheduled to close at the end of next week.

School board members also approved by a 4-0 vote, with member Ginger Richards absent, its proposed 2014-15 budget. The $13.62 million budget includes a 2 percent salary increase, plus step, for all employees. The county is being asked to increase its contribution from $7.06 million to $7.61 million.

In personnel actions, the board approved the retirement of MHS art teacher Karen Podd and the resignation of MHS band/chorus instructor Douglas Sutton for the 2014-15 school year.