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Joint- or Shared-Use Agreements
Joint- or shared-use agreements entail “two or more entities—usually 
a school and a city or private organization—sharing indoor and outdoor 
spaces like gymnasiums, athletic fields and playgrounds. The concept is 
simple: share resources to keep costs down and communities healthy” 
(Joint Use, 2009, p. 1).
Such agreements are one policy strategy that communities and schools 
can use to provide schools with additional or alternative opportunities for 
physical activity. They may be a particularly important strategy for pro-
viding structured physical activity programs during summer months and 
other out-of-school time. The agreements can be formal or informal and 
are designed to encourage shared use of facilities for both physical activity–
related and other kinds of programs. 
Joint-use agreements have been promoted by a number of national 
organizations (McCambridge et al., 2006; Solomon et al., 2009; Leadership 
for Healthy Communities, 2010; National Physical Activity Plan, 2010; 
White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, 2010; HHS, 2012) as a 
way to provide access to existing neighborhood physical activity facilities 
for communities, such as rural or low-income areas, that may have few or 
no such facilities available to them. Shared use of existing facilities is also 
more cost-effective than building new structures in resource-poor areas. 
Despite the promise of this strategy, however, and the significant attention 
and promotion it has received at the national level, little is known about its 
effectiveness in increasing physical activity.
Status and Trends
In a survey conducted with a nationally representative sample of 
public and nonpublic elementary, middle, and high school administrators 
in 2000 and again in 2006, researchers found that two-thirds of schools 
allowed youth sports teams to use school facilities outside of school hours 
(Evenson et al., 2010). A significantly lower percentage, however, allowed 
community-sponsored youth programs, open gyms, and adult sports pro-
grams (see Table 7-2). Results were similar across the survey years (2000 
and 2006), with no appreciable changes noted in facility availability across 
groups. 
More recent research conducted in 2009, which surveyed a national 
sample of school principals in underserved communities, also found that 
nearly 70 percent of principals reported that their school recreational facili-
ties were open to the public outside of school hours for either unsupervised 
or supervised use (Spengler et al., 2011). Finally, in a study conducted in 
2010, researchers examined and coded joint-use agreement policies col-
lected in a national sample of 157 school districts during the 2009-2010 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
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