Student vote to determine Grad Night site

SANDPOINT — Plans for Sandpoint High School’s annual Grad Night celebration are in flux after a group of senior class parents voiced concerns about the party’s location.

Traditionally held at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, the June event is scheduled to take place at Coeur d’Alene’s Triple Play Family Fun Park. The move has proven controversial, with a group of unhappy parents going as far as threatening to hold a competing party at the fairgrounds, said Marcia Wilson, chairman of the event’s planning committee.

The parents cited safety concerns, tradition and a loss of local income as reasons for moving the party back to the fairgrounds.

In an effort to reach a compromise, dissatisfied parents met with Grad Night organizers Monday to vote on the party’s location. The vote was a virtual tie, and both groups agreed that putting the decision in the hands of students would be the best solution, Wilson said.

A senior-wide vote is scheduled for later this week, and Wilson said all parties agreed to abide by the results.

“However this vote comes out, people are going to get behind it. This is my hope,” she said. “If it’s at the fairgrounds, we’ll all do whatever we can to make it a success.”

While she will support the decision, Wilson, citing personal reasons, said she will resign from the committee if the party is moved.

“I’m just really tired of the battle,” she said. “It’s just not worth this amount of angst for a kid’s party and I’ll be glad when it’s over, whatever the decision is.”

If Wilson leaves her position, Carlyn Blacker — who wants the party moved to the fairgrounds — will join two other parents in co-chairing the committee.

The mother of a 2009 SHS graduate, Blacker chose to voice her concerns about Grad Night after learning of a recent informal student poll that showed a majority of seniors were in favor of moving the party to the fairgrounds.

Blacker said no matter what happens with the student vote, she is confident the party will go on without a hitch.

Some SHS seniors, such as Chelsea Kardokus, disagree.

Kardokus, who edits the school’s newspaper, the Cedar Post, said there are no benefits to moving Grad Night at such a late date.

“I think it’s really stupid,” Kardokus said. “It’s been other places besides the fairgrounds before. They’ve had it at the Elks Club and different places. Why would we go out to the fairgrounds and play poker and black jack and a bunch of card games when we could be at Triple Play, having tons of fun?”

The Grad Night controversy has been on the lips of most SHS students, and Kardokus said the vote could go either way.

“It’s pretty split right now, but I think at this point there’s probably more opposition to going to Triple Play because it’s been made into such a big deal,” she said.

If students vote to move the party to the fairgrounds, organizers will lose a $3,000 deposit held by Triple Play.