Niles West Senior Cabinet representative MurphyMaeve Holleran addressed concerns about the lack of a homecoming dance, expressing its importance and urging for a change to be made during public comments at the Tuesday Sept. 14 Board of Education Meeting.

In her public comment, Holleran questioned the changes made to Homecoming, especially the cancelation of the dance. She reportedly contacted the Skokie Health Department for clarification on the guidance for events. 

“They [Skokie Health Department] just kept saying there is a high transmission rate the past four weeks. But if there is a high transmission rate right now with vaccinations and everything else available to stop the spread of COVID-19, why was there a prom allowed last May, when the conditions were worse?” Holleran said. 

Further questions were raised about social distancing practices at other outdoor events and within the school building.

“Why were we allowed to have stands full of fans at football games and soccer games with no social distancing in the seats, but we are not allowed to have a dance where people attending would be separated around 3ft dancing? Why are we allowed to be in the classroom working in groups less than three feet apart?”

Members of Senior Cabinet also believe that the Homecoming Festival is not a fair change because the event will take place during the game, limiting who can attend the full event.

According to Holleran, “The varsity football team has 58 team members that will not be able to participate in the festival, now there are the cheerleaders, poms team, student athletic trailers, color guard, and marching band.”

A petition calling for changes to the Homecoming Festival has accumulated over 340 student signatures as of the time of this article’s publication.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 7. Future meeting dates, board meeting videos, and policies can be found on the D219 website.