Lawsuit over football crowd size shows Blue Springs schools’ priorities are misguided

I remember rolling my eyes a little when giant screens were installed at either end of the gym during my senior year at Blue Springs South High School. It seemed bizarre to think that high school students would somehow need to watch their highlight reels during timeouts.

When I moved to Chile after graduating in 2018, I saw — as you might imagine — a very different culture surrounding sports. Chileans were not lacking in athleticism nor competitive spirit; they just didn’t have Jumbotrons, and some of their pro soccer teams played in facilities that looked like low-end high school football stadiums by our standards.

When I returned from South America in April, I drove past my former high school en route to my house. While I knew it was not fair to compare things to Chile, the school’s new and improved baseball field looked fit for the Royals. The makeover could not have been cheap, but neither is the Blue Springs School District accustomed to lowballing it when it comes to funding their sports programs.

Obviously, sports are not inherently bad in our education system. In fact, quite the contrary. As many have argued, they help kids get exercise, enhance school spirit, boost student morale, and — perhaps most important — are fun. But placing such a lopsided emphasis on them can be harmful, especially during a pandemic.

In the case of the Blue Springs School District, its history of prioritizing sports gives us insight into the recent case it filed against Jackson County. After being limited to only 100 spectators per sporting event, the district tried to sue the county, specifically Health Director Bridgette Shaffer, in an attempt to get more fans into the stadium. (The school district dropped its suit after the county relaxed its rules.)

On top of that, Blue Springs is also one of the only school districts in the area to be filling many of their classrooms to normal capacity. One of the district’s high school teachers told me, “You just can’t practice social distancing with 25 to 30 kids in a classroom.” But instead of addressing that, they worked on lawsuits to get more people into football games.

It is sad to see a school district be so adamantly committed to sports during such a serious public health crisis. However, even after the COVID-19 crisis is over, it might not hurt for the Blue Springs School District to do a little soul-searching about how willing they are to let sports dominate their identity moving forward.

But the basketball team will continue to watch their highlights on the big screen as long as the whistle blowing stays on the court. And the baseball team will never — heaven forbid — find a dandelion in the outfield as long as the same folks at the central office are calling all the balls and strikes.

As for the public view, many of those who supported the lawsuit are applauding the Blue Springs School District for being the only local district to fight this battle. But rather than celebrate their status as lone warriors, maybe they should reflect on what it is they are fighting for. There is a reason they stand alone, and the fact that they do not have the insight to see that explains a lot about how we got here in the first place.

Addison Graham of Blue Springs is a freshman at Brigham Young University.

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Lawsuit over football crowd size shows Blue Springs schools’ priorities are misguided."