Board’s stance on bleacher safety upsets family
WAYNE — The parents of a 4-yearold boy who slipped through the bleachers at a football game last season are not relenting in their campaign for safer seating, but school officials maintain that it is impractical to replace or even to upgrade the grandstands this season.
Instead, signs will be posted at the bleachers at Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley high schools to caution spectators that children must always be supervised.
To Ashley and Stacey Brooks, that is not good enough.
“No sign or announcement can serve as an effective barrier to prevent a child from slipping through an excessively large gap,” Ashley Brooks told trustees at their most recent meeting.
If the bleachers are not fixed soon, she added, school officials are “choosing to roll the dice.”
The accident occurred at a Wayne Valley football game in October. The boy, 3 at the time, was rushed to a hospital after he fell, but he was not seriously injured.
The Lincoln Park couple provided ideas that they said would solve the issue in the short term. For example, they suggested that new, safer bleacher sections be purchased and set aside for families with children. They also offered to collect money for the cause.
Belson Outdoors, an Illinois-based limited liability company, sells commercial-grade aluminum bleachers. A 10row section seats 113 to 193 people and costs $24,526 to $33,719.
Since the accident, the couple have lobbied for bleacher safety — not just in Wayne, but across the state.
They discussed the issue with state legislators, and a proposed bill called the New Jersey Bleacher Safety Act was drawn up.
The law, co-sponsored by state Sens. Anthony Bucco, R-Denville, and Kristin Corrado, R-Totowa, would require stricter safety standards for existing bleachers.
Meanwhile, school officials estimate that retrofitting the grandstands at both high schools would cost $750,000.
But it would not be wise to spend that kind of money on a temporary fix, they said, because a multimillion-dollar referendum measure is being planned, and it will include total replacement of the bleachers.
School officials said the project would be eligible for state aid, which would ease the jolt of a sudden tax hike.
Doing such a project at this juncture would disrupt staff and students, they said. “Closing the bleachers during the school year would significantly impact activities and evacuation protocol,” the officials said in a statement.
Donald Pavlak Jr., the school board president, said the referendum is the “best path” toward completing the project.
“We’re dedicated to fixing this problem,” Pavlak said. “There’s a process for doing it, and we need to follow that process.”
Trustees Barbara Rigoglioso and Iveta Wentink applauded the Brooks family and its supporters for having the courage to bring the issue to the public.
“We understand there may be a sense of urgency regarding bleacher safety, and we want to assure you — I want to assure you — that I share your concerns,” Rigoglioso said.
“We’re actively working behind the scenes,” she added, “exploring all options to make sure that no child ever falls through those bleachers again.”