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Excitement and frustration were in the air Monday night, as the school board voted to allow Mountain View High School students to hold their Oct. 26 home game game against Homestead High School at night under temporary lights. The students were elated, while neighbors took a darker view.
The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District’s board of trustees made its unanimous decision at a public meeting Oct. 8 in front a near-capacity crowd gathered inside the Alta Vista High School multipurpose room.
The board meeting was moved to Alta Vista in order to accommodate the large crowd of students, parents and other community members — some of them in favor of hosting a night game, some of them against the idea.
Those in favor argued that it would be great for school spirit, saying that the event would not cost the district more than a regular daytime game because all additional costs are being covered by the MVHS Athletic Boosters and other sponsors. Proponents said that the district would likely make money on high ticket sales and additional concession sales.
“I’m stoked,” Dean Trammell, an MVHS junior, said after the board voted.
Neighbors worry
Those opposed to the idea — mostly neighbors living around the school’s perimeter — said they worried about noise, light pollution, traffic, drug and alcohol use (of teens and adults alike), and general hooliganism. Some worried that there is a hidden agenda to eventually open the door to more night games in the future and install permanent lights on the school’s football field.
“We have no voice whatsoever with the school district,” said Victor, whose home abuts the school. He asked that his last name be left out of the paper for fear that vindictive teens might vandalize his home.
“They do what they want,” he said of the school board. “It was preordained as a railroad job. They made a publicized comment that they wanted neighbor involvement, but they didn’t listen, they just do what they want.”
The same arguments were heard at the Oct. 3 community forum in the the Alta Vista multipurpose room. That discussion was heated but civil. The Oct. 8 gathering was decidedly more heated, and there was at least one argument between two men.
Community meeting
“The point of doing this game is to build school spirit,” JJ Kapp said at the Oct. 3 meeting.
Kapp is vice president of the MVHS Athletic Boosters Club and parent to a sophomore. The school’s sports teams have all been improving, advancing further in the season and participation is up in certain athletic activities, he told the room. “Now the time is right to build school spirit.”
After the Oct. 3 meeting, Martin VanRyswyk said that he felt the Athletic Boosters were trying to pull a quarterback sneak with the proposal. “It’s a strategy,” VanRyswyk said, recalling that the boosters were “chastised” once already by the MVLA board of trustees for not including the community in their plan for this night game. So they are holding a “perfunctory meeting,” and hoping they can “ram” the proposal through at the upcoming board meeting, he charged.
“We’re not trying to ‘ram’ anything through,” Kapp responded to VanRyswyk’s charge.
The reason his group has been working so rapidly, Kapp said, is that the school year has only recently begun and the boosters simply want the students and the community to be able to rally around the team — not to mention the cheerleaders, the band and the dance squad who are also slated to perform at the event.
At the board meeting two community members who addressed the board said they had seen a petition floating around that called for the eventual installation of permanent lights on the campus.
Many of the school board members said they wished the Boosters had done a better job including the community in the discussions. Several of them reminded the Boosters that they had been instructed at the Sept. 24 board meeting to include the entire community in the Oct. 3 community forum — by Kapp’s own admission, only the homes closest to the perimeter of the school received fliers about the community forum
“I’m disappointed that the community was not involved sooner and more thoroughly,” Phil Faillace, president of the MVLA district board said.
But the board still approved the night game — emphasizing that it is only one game, that there are no plans for any other night games this season, and that there are no plans to erect permanent lights on the MVHS football field.
Joseph Florez, a senior on the football team, and his younger sister, Angelica, were elated.
“Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Joseph said.
“I was extremely happy,” Angelica chimed in. “I’ll get to cheer with my brother at the night game.”
St. Francis has night games all the time. (I can hear the announcers, marching band, and cheering from my house. Will probably be able to hear the MVHS ones, too, since I can hear the marching band practicing in the morning.) Have the neighbors checked with that St. Francis’ administration, the MVPD, and the businesses and homes nearby to see if there have been regular instances of trouble at night football games? My guess is there have not been, or we’d have been reading about them in the Voice. I understand that neighbors don’t want a change in their neighborhood, but I really think the fears about problems are way overblown. MVHS kids are as a whole a respectful and well-behaved bunch, like the St. Francis kids. And they did, after all, buy a house next to a school. Stuff happens at schools involving kids and noise.
Congrats to the board for making the right decision.
The neighbors that don’t want lights are everything that’s wrong with the communities surrounding both Mountain View and Los Altos High Schools. Sports are the greatest activities kids can participate in, if you ask me. Sports teach teamwork, leadership, accountability, responsibility, and most importantly – how to deal with failure. Anything to support and strengthen a sports program should be at the forefront of any community. I would argue that a strong football program (with awesome amenities, like lights) will only bring more togetherness to a neighborhood. A football game is something everyone can enjoy. There’s the game itself, cheerleaders, a band, and more. The neighbors should be coming out to support these kids; not joining up to take away special opportunities that will stick with the kids forever. If you didn’t want the things that come with a high school sports program, then you should’ve never moved near a high school in the first place. Bring on the lights permanently! Let these kids have the kind of sports experiences they deserve.
Good for the kids. They should have a parade with floats, the marching band,and others on Truman and Oak. Fireworks would be fun too, and a outdoor concert after the game. GO SPARTANS!
Jeez, what a bunch of sourpusses. It’s ***ONE*** night using ***TEMPORARY*** lighting.
Sheesh!
Good job to the board for listening to all sides and making the best decision for the community. Shame on the neighbors for not supporting MVHS. If you live by a school there will be traffic, noise and kids to deal with. Why don’t you all attend the game and show some support for the high school!
You are quoted as saying, “We have no voice whatsoever with the school district,” said Victor, whose home abuts the school. He asked that his last name be left out of the paper for fear that vindictive teens might vandalize his home. “They do what they want,” he said of the school board. “It was preordained as a railroad job. They made a publicized comment that they wanted neighbor involvement, but they didn’t listen, they just do what they want.”
Guess what? You can become a School Board Trustee…just run! There is no requirement for you having a child in High School. Try it..or stop whining about having no voice.
You homeowners must be kidding. The entire school of 1,800, all their parents and siblings, and the entire MV community are suppose to “bow down” to literally a handful of whiny and irrational homeowners who weren’t smart enough “not to buy” next to a HS. Talk about the benefits of many out weighing the pouting of a few. One homeowner/complainer says it was the “strategy” to “ram down” the proposal and yet another says that it was a “preordained railroad job”. You guys watch too much TV and need a hobby. There is only a handful of you that live near the school – I’m not sure why the HS even consulted with you guys. Get in your car and go to any HS that plays a game at night and see what it brings to the school and community – amazing and invaluable. MVHS has one of the highest GPA’s in the state and steller performance at every level, this not about too much focus or money on athletics. It’s about finally focusing on athletics. This HS sits in one of the richest tax bases in the county and their games are at 3:00 and their faciities are a joke. You guys think there is a hidden agenda – not from where I sit. The agenda is obvious – 3:00 football games don’t work and are a thing of the past. Grow up neighborhood – the 50 of you are out numbered. I hope they get permanent lights. Here’s an idea – move. The housing market is pretty good right now but watch out for the light rail and the freeway – we wouldn’t want to have to shut down transportation system to suit you sleeping habits. You should be embarrassed and ashamed.
I couldn’t be happier for the kids at MVHS. Congrats and thanks to all that made this happen. For those that oppose this idea, I recommend you put on your happy pants and attend the game! This is all about community and no one should be left out! Go make some joyful noise!!
Homeowners near MVHS – WHY, on God’s green earth, would you purchase your home next to a HIGH SCHOOL if you’re “…worried about noise, light pollution, traffic, drug and alcohol use (of teens and adults alike), and general hooliganism.” Sounds like it’s time to move…….. and walk the neighborhood this time to make sure there aren’t any schools nearby!
Good for Mountain View High !!! Don’t buy a house near a school if you don’t want noise or action going on. Sports are the greatest thing that happens for kids. GO SPARTANS !!!!!!!!!
I know Los Altos High School is in a similar situation about having no lights and being in a residential neighborhood. Sounds to me like a municipal stadium somewhere in between the two schools where both could play, plus club soccer and baseball, etc. would solve a lot of problems. Anyone know if there is space near the original Mountain View High School in downtown Mtn. View? Castro Street would probably love to get the business after games and the cities undoubtedly have more money than the schools to build it out.
I don’t have a dog in this hunt (i.e. no high schoolers and live on other side of town), but I have to say the comments on this board attacking the neighbors are frighteningly ignorant and intolerant. You may disagree with their point of view, but the personal attacks on people you don’t even know are a sad commentary on your own selfish interests. It is no wonder they feel under attack from members of the community that have no concern for their situation. I am sure that many of those people have owned their homes for quite some time and have raised families in that neighborhood. Others have invested more than $1M in their homes near a school that HAS NEVER had lights. Is it reasonable for them to have thought they wouldn’t ever have them…maybe/maybe not. Regardless, I would think some of you folks that want to cram lights down their throats would at least appreciate or acknowledge the problems you will cause them. I mean, really…disagreeing is one thing, but doing a touchdown dance on someone else’s loss is downright un-neighborly.
I was at the Board of Trustee meeting for a different agenda item. I thought the neighbors were quite respectful of the students and their desire to have a night football game. My take was that the neighbors thought the Board and the Athletic Booster Club was acting underhandedly. I had to leave before it was all over, but the neighbors I heard speak seemed like fine people to me. In fact, I was surprised to hear that it passed.
Citizens in Texas would be horrified to hear about the lack of support for any high school football program, let alone one in someones own neighborhood!
If these neighborhood cry-babies didn’t want what naturally comes along with buying a house in a neighborhood where there is a high school (WITH a football field), maybe they should have spent their million dollars somewhere else.
Dear MVNeighbor,
I understand your point, but I disagree. I do not believe that anyone is attacking them. They are disagreeing with their argument.
Although they may have purchased a very long time ago – the High School was there at that time. What many have a problem with, as I have read, is that the neighbors are not complaining about lights shining in their houses. They are jumping to a conclusion that night games will bring out the worst in the High School kids – drinking and hooliganism. That is a big leap. They also complain about traffic, but nobody will be specific about what the traffic problems are actually going to be.
The neighbors complain of a big conspiracy – one night of lights is just the beginning to installing lights. MVHS did not give them a voice – and even when they did get to express their opinions, nobody listened.
The neighbors, who were quoted, are acting like younger children than those across the street. That is the stuff that people are rebelling against.
The emotional nature of this topic makes it is easy to forget a key point: Due Process. The Boosters and Board were supposed to notify neighbors and solicit concerns for collaboration. Instead, they put out a few flyers around the perimeter of the school hoping “people won’t notice.” Really, how would you react if you were treated like this?
And, in the Oct 3rd meeting the Board was clear about a list of conditions they said would be required to be met prior approval. By JJ Kapp’s own admission, the Boosters came up short. And the Board went against their word and voted the proposal in anyway.
Forget the game for a minute. What did we just teach a generation of kids (and parents)? That there are NO consequences. This is not what I want the Board, educators or other parents teaching my children.
And here I tell my kids to take the time and do things right. Apparently, I am the only one who believes this…
People need to calm down about the sports and focus on the bigger picture.
To quote a number of posts….
– neighborhood cry-babies,
– a handful of whiny and irrational homeowners who weren’t smart enough “not to buy” next to a HS,
– neighbors that don’t want lights are everything that’s wrong with the communities surrounding both Mountain View and Los Altos High Schools
Tell me what part of these comments aren’t attacking?
Then feel free to explain how you think they were attempting to refute the neighbor’s argument about feeling railroaded? I haven’t seen a single comment focused on addressing the three residents’ concerns of being railroaded. Go back and read the article. The three neighbors that were quoted all complained about the lack of honesty and integrity in the decision making process. Not one of them said they didn’t want the game. Yet all the responses are personally targeting the neighbors, calling them names, and attributing an image to the neighbors of being unsupportive of the school. Wow…no wonder they feel screwed. First they get it from the School Board and now they get it from you people. Remind me not to turn my back on you guys.
Finally, you appear to state that you are making an assessment of the situation based on what you read in an article that was written by a reporter who has the goal of increasing readership. C’mon, really? Do you think Nick asked a handful of neighbors what their real concerns were? I am sure he asked them what they were upset about…and what they were upset about was that at the September Board of Trustees meeting, the President of the School Board gave specific instructions about what the Boosters were supposed to do in order to gain the support of the Board. The president explicitly said “I am extremely disappointed that the Boosters have not talked to the neighborhood about this event. The Boosters need to go iron everything out with the community, because I can tell you that if we have a meeting on October 8th and I have more than a few of these speaker request cards, we are not approving the lights.” Guess what, the neighborhood did show up despite the Boosters not notifying the neighborhood in the manner they were supposed to…and the President of School Board did have a lot of speaker request cards in his hand…and guess what – they approved it anyway.
So I can understand why the guy was frustrated. He was told one thing by the school board and they did another. I’d be pretty upset too. Especially if it involved the house I’d lived in for 40 years. You have no idea what tone of voice the man used when he spoke to the reporter (neither do I) and you have no idea what he really said (neither do I)…so to accuse him of acting younger than the children across the street is a bit of a stretch.
I have a feeling most of the people who want the lights do not live anywhere near the school. Perhaps its time to reopen the real Mountain View High School so that the people from over there can have a school with lights that is actually located where lights would be appropriate.
Why are there no lights at MVHS? Cause its landlocked on four sides with suburbs. Maybe that is also why there is no Super Wal-Mart nearby. In fact there is no gas or store of any kind close by.
There have never been lights at the football field at the school formerly known as Awalt and perhaps all you boosters need to consider that there is a reason for it.
Do not like the rules of the neighborhood? Open a new school that is not on the edge of another town. Open one in YOUR neighborhood.
We are getting tired of being the doormat for all the educational needs of people who do not even live nearby.
As Awalt and even later on as MVHS the school has been awesome, and an asset. The last few years are another matter entirely.
I am an alumni and played for MVHS in 2 sports. I think it is great for the entire school and comminity that the school has a night game. I sat at the meeting and what I heard was complaints about the marching band practicing all hours of the day and their trucks unloading at night. Why not be a little more fair with the sports and pay some attention to them. The facilities at MVHS for sporting events are embarassing. One tiolet, 1 water fountain for the track, football field, soccer field and baseball field. Its time to upgrade the entire stadium with a new field, tiolets, snack bar, and yes lights. The new lights are so hi tech that there is not light polution. Give some concessions to the neighbors such as limits on the lights and have marching band scale back their early morning practices and late nights. This is fair and a win-win for all. What I heard form the neighbors was all complaints about the marching band and they need to be pulled back. The Marching Band even has a new semi truck while the football players are tearing their ACLs on an outdated field. Sounds like one of the football players’s parents may own a new home thanks to the school and the school board for having them play on such poor field conditions.
Perhaps the whole process could be started over. Next year, get the boosters and school board to do what’s necessary about having temporary night lights for a football game. Everyone is honest and not intimidating, gets the information out and listens to all concerns. The school board summarizes points made by all sides.
Since it is such a big event for the high school students and families, as we can see from the elation about the approval this time, let’s make the Homecoming game an annual night game. If neighbors that surround the school know that homecoming is the one night game per year, then it could be celebrated, police could be on hand, behavior rules well known, respected, and enforced. Making it an annual event would obviate the boosters and school board having to do this every time they want to try a night game. This seems like a good compromise to me.
It’s called “Friday Night Football” for a reason.
Welcome to the 20th century, Mtn View