Moline police recommend containing homecoming parade on school campus to reduce risk

Police Chief Karen Goll told the School District 4610 Board at a May 12 meeting at Logan Elementary that the city and district are proposing a new homecoming parade route that would keep students and floats largely on school property to reduce public‑safety risks.

Goll said the change is aimed at lowering the exposure of students and spectators to traffic, elevated positions and other vulnerabilities that have been exploited in attacks elsewhere. “Parades, festivals, they all have an enormous amount of risk associated with them,” she told the board.

The change matters because the district’s current route runs along one of the city’s busiest roadways, has multiple intersections and leaves students returning to neighborhoods on foot. Under the proposal presented to the board, the parade would start and end on school property and remain contiguous to the campus instead of following the current Avenue‑of‑the‑Cities route.

Officials said the current parade route runs about one mile from the Roosevelt entrance to 20th Seventh Street and crosses 11 intersections; the roadway carries an average 23,200 vehicles per day, the chief said. The proposed campus route would be about 0.87 mile and would keep most staging, floats and spectators within or adjacent to school grounds.

Goll described the rationale in national context, citing recent attacks at public events: Highland Park’s July Fourth parade, Waukesha’s Christmas parade and other incidents she said show vehicles and elevated shooters can produce mass casualties. “You can no longer say that it isn’t going to happen here,” she told the board.

Advantages the police and school officials listed include fewer unsecured intersections to staff, a more repeatable route for planning, consolidated radio and personnel coverage, and fewer instances of volunteer drivers returning students through town. The chief said the city has invested about $300,000 on portable and deployable bollards used at events; organizers would currently pay roughly $2,400 to cover city services for a parade on the secure route, she said.

School staff and a building administrator told the board the campus route would reduce transportation challenges and make it easier to supervise students after the event. The administrator said keeping the parade inside the campus footprint preserves the school‑centric tradition while reducing the need for staff and volunteers to ferry students across city streets.

No formal board vote or policy change was taken at the meeting. Goll and district administrators said the proposal requires typical city permitting: applications are reviewed by the city’s Special Events Committee and then must be approved by the city council. Goll said the district and police will work with school staff to notify residents affected by the alternate route and to provide address‑level notices to nearby homes and any households requiring special access during the event.

Board members asked about specific hazards on the alternate route — including a steep L‑turn and the size of flatbeds used for floats — and the chief suggested dry runs for large vehicles. She also noted staffing limits: while police will assign officers to the staging points, several intersections along the old route remain difficult to cover and the city cannot secure every driveway, alley and business entrance on longer routes.

Next steps described at the meeting: the district and police will finalize the suggested campus route, prepare public information for affected residents, and present the route and permit application to the city council for formal approval. If the council approves, the district and city staff said they plan outreach to inform parents, volunteers and parade participants ahead of the event.

Community members and board members thanked the police and school staff for proposing a safety‑minded alternative while trying to preserve the parade tradition.