Safety concerns and difficulty managing a growing student body have prompted an administrative decision to move this year’s Homecoming parade from the traditional Friday afternoon to a week night.

The administrative team, along with StuCo sponsor Erica Crist and school resource officer John Midiros, met in the weeks before school to determine the change.

In addition to concern about the school’s size, issues with student behavior in previous years was another factor in the decision. Incidents including a Shawnee police officer being hit with candy by students, and students sneaking an unapproved float into the parade last year contributed to a need for change, according to assistant principal Marilyn Chrisler.

“That’s life sometimes. Some people spoil it for the group,” Chrisler said. “…[But those incidents] were a factor but weren’t the main decision. With the size of the student body we didn’t feel 100 percent secure.”

A final factor in the decision was a desire to develop the parade into a more community-oriented event. The parade will now lead into the traditional pep rally and bonfire at the stadium. The route will be moved off Monticello Road onto a residential road to keep traffic moving. No other details about the parade have been released.

“I’m excited about it being on a Wednesday night…because it will be a community event,” Crist said. “So the people that want to be there will be there.”

StuCo student body president Rachel Mills first found out about the decision in June, and was disappointed students were not included in the decision-making process.

“It’s not that I didn’t like having an involvement in it, I just wish they would have asked,” Mills said. “I wanted more of an opinion in it than making that decision.”

Student input did not play a factor in the decision, according to Crist.

“Honestly, it wasn’t really needed,” Crist said. “There’s nothing the students could say about it because the schools is just too big and the student’s can’t go back and change what happened at last year’s parade.”

The time change will affect high school students as well as area elementary and middle schools whose students have traditionally watched the parade during the day.

Prairie Ridge Elementary School principal Michelle Hite learned about the decision two weeks ago. In the past, the parade would start at the elementary school with the students watching from the curb of the street.

“I think participation is so embedded [in the community] that you’ll probably see a higher attendance from our school because parents will be there,” Hite said. “It’s going to also allow families to spend greater time together in that fashion.”

Hite said she had heard safety concerns from other schools but that it had not previously affected Prairie Ridge. Hite has not told her students of the change but plans to announce the change through the school’s parent newsletter soon.

“I think they’re [the students] going to be sad they don’t have a parade during the day like they know it, but I think they’ll be happy that it will be extended for them,” Hite said.

Sophomore Emily Leonard attended the parade for the first time last year, and worries moving it will effect school spirit.

“I’m annoyed. I liked missing school,” Leonard said. “It’s inconvenient it’s on a Wednesday night. The people that go will have lots of school spirit but the people that don’t go will kind of put a damper on it.”

Despite some opinions like this, administration said they don’t want school spirit to be affected.

“I hope it doesn’t have any effect [on school spirit],” Chrisler said. “I hope we’re still excited about that week. Nothing was taken away, it was just rearranged in a different order and we may like it.”

Mills worries the administration did not think about high school students enough in making the change.

“I think it’s weird because when we’ve been talking about it, they’re more interested in getting the elementary students and parents involved than the high school students,” Mills said. “And we’re the most important.”

What still remains to be determined is what will fill the Friday on which the parade previously fell. Students and staff typically treated the day as a “fun day” while students decorated floats and attended a pep assembly. StuCo is currently working on a proposal for the day but nothing has been approved at this point. Some details concerning the new parade night are also still being finalized. As it stands, students will be decorating floats on their own time off school grounds.

Other Homecoming details, including the time and date of the football game and dance, remain unchanged.

What is your opinion on the Homecoming parade change? Comment on this story or tweet at @mvjagwire to share your thoughts.