Seating may change for home basketball games
Staff writer
Marion-Florence USD 408 board of education members discussed safety issues and reasons for and against changing the seating structure at home basketball games at Monday's meeting.
Due to complaints from patrons and their own observations, board members received recommendations from the District Leadership Team.
At the Marion High School gym, recommendations were to raise the barrier in the balcony, keep the east entrance lobby and sidewalk free of congestion, hire a lobby monitor, hire an off-duty police officer to patrol outside and assist inside, have two ticket takers at the east entrance and one at the northwest door, discourage smoking on the property, and move the band to the northwest bleachers.
At the Marion Elementary School gym, recommendations were to allow no loitering or playing in the corridor connecting the gym with the remainder of the building, supervise the area directly outside the connecting corridor, and discourage smoking on the property.
The team is comprised of Superintendent Gerry Henderson, Business Manager and Board Clerk Martin Tice, and the principals for the high school, middle school, and elementary school Ken Arnhold, Tod Gordon, and Stan Ploutz respectively.
The board discussed the possibility of moving the band and the student section to the northwest side. Doing this will make more seating available on the south side.
Derek Vetter, Marion High School Student Council (STUCO) representative was concerned about the band and students being moved to the northwest side.
"We like to be in the center of the action," said Vetter.
Carolyn Moore, STUCO sponsor, agreed.
"The girl players feel strongly about the moving of the student section and band."
The high school gym has limited space for spectators to walk which adds to the safety and congestion issues. Unsupervised children running around the exterior of the court also adds to the concerns.
"What is the impression we give other schools when we allow our children to run around like that?" asked Keith Collett, board member.
Comment was made that years ago the band was located in the balcony. However, the balcony is not handicapped accessible, and therefore not an option. The balcony is closed during games to keep children from running around.
"I have often been concerned about someone falling over the balcony railing," Collett said.
Board members agreed that clearing the congestion from the lobby and front of the building are the top priorities.
"The congestion problem is the smaller children, not the high school students," said Sarah Coper, board member.
Board members agreed that encouraging parents to keep smaller children contained during the game is the answer. However, not everyone agreed on the off-duty police officer approach.
"The off-duty police officer might be overkill," said Gene Bowers, board member.
"Opening a third door might help the congestion," said Bowers. He was also in favor of moving the pep band but not the student section.
Smokers often step just outside the main doors to smoke during the games which contributes to the congestion and to the odor of smoke.
"Do we want to discourage smoking or prohibit it?" asked Kathy Meierhoff, board member.
Henderson said that most people will comply if asked not to smoke.
Consensus of the board was to recommend to the leadership team to try a few changes at a time like adding another bar to the balcony railing, moving the pep band from the south side to the northwest side, opening a third ticket door, and encouraging children to sit and watch the game instead of running in and around the building.
