STAFF REPORT
City of Lancaster
NB 1
05/27/25
TN
Date: May 27, 2025
To: Mayor Parris and City Council Members
From: Sonya Patterson, Parks, Arts, Recreation, and Community Services Director Subject: Proposed Lancaster Museum of Art and History Education Classroom Renaming to Learn4Life Education Room.
Recommendations:
1.Adopt Resolution No. 25-___, approving the renaming of the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) Education Classroom “Learn4Life Education Room” for a period of five (5) years (2025-2030).
2.Approve Sponsorship Contract between City of Lancaster and Lancaster Museum Public Art Foundation (LMPAF) Sponsorship Contract with Learn4Life.
3.Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to effectuate the renaming, including the attached Sponsorship Contract.
G.C. Section 84308: No
Fiscal Impact:
No impact to the General Fund.
Background:
On February 24, 2025, the City received a formal naming application from the Lancaster Museum and Public Art Foundation (LMPAF) in partnership with Learn4Life Schools, requesting that MOAH’s Education Classroom be renamed the Learn4Life Education Room for a term of five years.
The Education Classroom (Room 109) hosts MOAH’s STEAM based workshops, docent trainings, and K-12 field-trip programming that serve more than 8,000 students annually.
Learn4Life Schools is a California-based network of free public charter high schools that offers flexible, personalized instruction to students who thrive outside traditional classroom settings.
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Over the past decade, Learn4Life has provided mentorship, internship placements, and career- technical learning opportunities to Antelope Valley youth, directly complementing MOAH’s education mission.
In accordance with the City’s Administrative Policy and Procedure Number 000-03 Facility Naming, the City published a notice of intent to rename the Education Classroom in the Antelope Valley Press newspaper on March 26, 2025, and April 3, 2025. The notice invited public comment on the proposed name to Learn4Life Education Room, with comments on the proposed name to be submitted via email to ( [email protected]) by May 3, 2025. Additionally, applications to propose a new name were available online at (www.cityoflancasterca.org/parkrenaming) and accepted through January 11, 2024.
No community input, nor alternative name proposals were received by the deadline. Given there were no community objections to the proposed facility name.
Under the Sponsorship Contract, Learn4Life Schools secures exclusive naming rights to MOAH’s Education Classroom (Room 109) for five years (2025-2030). In return the sponsor delivers a $50,000 cash donation, paid in annual $10,000 installments to LMPAF. The City and the Lancaster Museum and Public Art Foundation (LMPAF) will acknowledge the sponsor through interior signage, printed and digital collateral, and program acknowledgments. LMPAF will fund initial signage and coordinate additional obligations as stipulated in the Sponsorship Contract.
The proposed sponsorship yields a net-positive fiscal outcome for the City. Learn4Life Schools will contribute $50,000 over five years, five equal installments of $10,000, designated exclusively for MOAH educational programming and community outreach. Start-up costs are minimal and fully offset: LMPAF will reimburse the City up to $3,500 for interior and exterior signage bearing the sponsor’s name and logo, ensuring no General Fund dollars are required. The agreement also transfers routine event expenses (e.g., receptions, Lantern Room rentals, and trunk-show travel) to LMPAF or the sponsor, further insulating the City from unbudgeted liabilities. In sum, the partnership augments MOAH’s operating capacity while safeguarding the City’s financial resources.
Renaming the classroom to the Learn4Life Education Room directly advances the City’s Unifying Principles. First, it bolsters Education in Arts & Culture by expanding no-cost, standards-aligned workshops that reach more than 8,000 K-12 students annually. Second, it creates Community through partnerships, formalizing ties with a charter-school network that provides mentorships, CTE pathways, and family engagement programming, complementing the PARCS Department’s equity and inclusion goals. Furthermore, the infusion of a $50,000 sponsorship exemplifies the City’s Fiscal Sustainability goal by leveraging private funding to enhance public services, thereby reducing reliance on the General Fund and diversifying MOAH’s revenue.
Attachments:
Resolution
Application
Sponsorship Contract
Levine Act Statement
SP:VR