Dancing into the Night: A look at what Homecoming will be like this year, with new COVID-19 regulations

The Homecoming Dance, hosted by Student Council, will be held outdoors on Oct. 9 due to COVID-19 restrictions set by the school board.

Following the announcement of the district’s requirements for Homecomings, the StuCo sponsors and execs scouted out possible outdoor locations on campus on Sept. 13, before deciding to host the dance on the tennis courts outside of the East pool. Students will walk through the pool hallway, get checked in and then be guided to the other side of the courts to avoid walking on gravel.

Students will not be allowed to park in the South lot and are required to park in the North lot off 75th Street for the dance, since the walk down the steep grassy hill next to that lot poses a safety risk.

To go along with this year’s outside venue, StuCo voted to have the dance themed “Under the Stars.”

“I think the kids’ll be very excited,” StuCo sponsor Brenda Fishman said. “I think [it’s] a cool theme. Outdoors will be kind of fun and different, and people are always complaining that it’s too hot in the cafeteria, so we’ll put them outside, so either bring a wrap or prepare for whatever [weather].”

To get into the dance, students will need their current student ID and ticket — which can be purchased the week leading up to the dance before or after school, during lunch or at the dance.

Unlike last year’s Prom, the district is allowing students to bring outside guests as long as they fill out the permission forms found in the office and have them turned in by Oct. 8. Outside guests will be required to bring a form of identification — such as their driver’s license — along with their ticket.

While senior Ellie Neusel was at Union Station for Prom last year, her boyfriend from Rockhurst had to wait for her to finish with the dance since outside guests weren’t allowed.

“Now that he can come in with me my senior year and be able to enjoy one of our last dances together is just super exciting to me,” Neusel said.

Another aspect of normalcy is the mask policy. Masks will not be required at the dance this year, but the sponsors strongly recommend that attendees bring a mask to access the restrooms inside the hallway where masks are still required. Disposable masks will also be available for students.

“Masks will not be required because we’ll be outside,” Fishman said. “Social distancing, same thing, because you’re outside, we kind of hope the kids’ll spread out a little bit, but we know it’s hard in a dance.”

With the dance being outside the building, unfamiliar issues have come up with lighting, power, crowd control and inclement weather. 

StuCo will most likely have to rent lights for the area — the cost of which might end up totaling more than the actual decor. Then there’s the problem of power. The plan is to run power strips out to the courts for lights, and the DJ will charge an additional $200 for using a generator.

When it comes to managing the students, in addition to the StuCo sponsors, administrators and security officers, there will be six additional faculty members monitoring the dance. Another reason the tennis courts were appealing is that they can easily manage who comes in and out of the dance since it’s fenced off.

They’ve made a policy that once a student is admitted to the dance, if they go off the path or beyond the restrooms, then they’ll have technically left the dance and won’t be allowed back in.

With fall weather being so unpredictable, there’s no back-up plan if it rains. The dance would simply be canceled.

“If it’s rained out, it’s rained out,” Pence said. “There’s no refunds, there’s no moving it inside.”

StuCo won’t be refunding the purchased tickets in the event that the dance is canceled as it would be too much money to redistribute considering that half the school attended the dance in years prior. Instead, StuCo plans on donating the money to charity — most likely the Johnson County Christmas Bureau.

Despite the challenges, StuCo has hopes of delivering a memorable Homecoming experience to all who attend.

“Hopefully it will be really fun,” Pence said. “It’ll be different but that doesn’t make it bad, and I think everybody’s just happy that we can have it.”