AKRON, Ohio — Akron Public Schools has some entry restrictions for anyone coming to one of the district’s sporting events.
School leaders said two of those procedures have been in place for years. The third one was just introduced in August.
But News 5 is learning some families don’t know about them.
“It’s just about putting things in place to make things efficient and safe for our families,” said Executive Director of School Leadership, Michelle Marquess-Kearns.
Football season is here, and Akron Public School leaders want people to come out and support their athletes.
But before you show up, Michelle Marquess-Kearns said the district has a clear bag requirement, which means all bags and purses, except diaper bags and medical equipment, are banned.
The other two procedures don’t allow anyone into games after the first half and require students under 18 to be with a parent or guardian if they’re not with one of the teams playing.
“That actually was implemented years ago. That’s not a new procedure, and that basically eliminates unmonitored drop offs, and allows for our administrators and security personnel to shift the focus from the gates to inside our venues for crowd control and anything else that we need to do,” said Marquess-Kearns.
While Marquess-Kearns said the district hasn’t had any security issues, she said it’s all about adding another layer of safety and security enforcement.
But Arthur Halsell said it’s not right after he drove 45 minutes from Macedonia last Friday to watch his grandson play and couldn’t get in because he didn’t know about the procedure.
“I was kind of devastated because why I can’t come in to see my grandson play. It’s not like I’m a kid and going to start anything,” said Halsell. “It’s not right to not let nobody in because they come late. I’m still paying money. It’s not like you letting me in for free.”
In a statement to News 5, Attorney Peter Pattakos of The Pattakos Law Firm LLC said he and several APS parents are interested in taking legal action.
He also said:
"It’s sad that the people in the Akron city school communities aren’t free to enter and leave high school football games to support their families and communities the way that people in neighboring communities are and have always been. The proud tradition of high school football games in Ohio offers one of the most reliable sources of community pride and community spiritedness that people have access to anymore. It's a proven fact that crime lessens in places the more there's a sense of community. Here APS’s restrictions make it more difficult for that sense of community to flourish, and disproportionately impact working people and single parents. APS needs leadership that is able to direct resources to where they are needed, including increased security at sporting events if that is really necessary. What APS communities do not need is to be blamed or shamed for structural problems that they did not create, or to have discriminatory and overly restrictive rules applied to them that just make the structural problems even worse."
“I totally can understand with families, and again, I think once they understand why we’re doing it – and it’s new – that everyone will get used to it,” said Marquess-Kearns.
