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Batavia board president proposes stricter event attendance rules after Friday football disturbances
Summary
Board President John Regal proposed an immediate policy change requiring adults to accompany minors at home events and empowering administrators to remove disruptive adults. The superintendent and the board signaled support and planned communications to families and city partners.
Board President John Regal told the Batavia City School District Board of Education that student behavior and disruptions at school-sponsored events have increased and proposed an immediate update to district policy governing attendance at those events.
Regal said the district’s goal is to protect instructional time and preserve safe, respectful environments at school functions. He proposed that, effective immediately, all minors below high school age (eighth grade and younger) must be accompanied by a responsible adult at Blue Devils home games and similar district events and must remain with that adult in the stands for the duration of the event. He said unsupervised minors would be banned from congregating around concession stands, practice fields or other non-seating areas.
Regal said adults who fail to meet behavior expectations would be asked to leave and could be suspended from future events at the administration’s discretion. He framed the proposal as a partnership among staff, students and families to restore respect and accountability in classrooms and at events. Regal asked the board to formally support the immediate update and to direct the superintendent to enforce the changes and communicate them to families this week.
Superintendent Mr. Smith and board members agreed and the transcript records that the district planned to send an email to families the next morning reflecting the changes. Mr. Smith said he had been in contact with the city and the Batavia Business Development (BBD) and that a joint statement would be issued later in the week responding to the disturbances from the prior Friday’s game.
The transcript shows the board treated the proposal as an administrative directive rather than a resolution for a recorded vote at that meeting. Board members asked for clear communication to avoid confusion at future events and expressed support for enforcing existing discipline policies alongside the new event expectations. Administrators said principals would announce the new expectations at schools so students are aware.
The proposal as described in public session does not specify enforcement procedures for adults who fail to leave when asked, nor does the transcript record any formal change to the district code of conduct within the meeting. It does record an administrative commitment to communicate the new expectations to families and to partner with city officials on a public statement.
