Ask Mr. Answer Person: "How is it possible for the Decorah High School to charge spectators admission to view the football games from the dike behind the football stadium?"

Laura e-mails Mr. Answer Person: "How is it possible for the Decorah High School to charge spectators admission to view the football games from the dike behind the football stadium?  Is the dike on city property or on school property?"
 
Mr. Answer Person says: "First of all, let me tackle your last question.  The dike is on city-owned property.  In fact, one-third of the football field, two-thirds of the baseball field and all of the softball field are on city-owned property.

Let's tackle your first question next.  The city allows the school district the use of city property.  Charging admission would be one of the uses allowed.

But let's add two more reasons why the school district ought to be allowed to charge people for sitting on the dike.  First, you should consider the charge to be the cost of viewing the football game, which is a school district function, not the cost of sitting on a dike.  Secondly, the money charged by the school district is used to defray the costs of having a football program.  In other words, if the school district didn't charge $4 or $5 for a ticket to see football games, it would either have to increase property taxes to cover the lost revenue or it would have to cancel the football program.  Neither choice seems as good as charging $4 or $5 to watch the game.