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Carnival organizers ask to use QE as temporary site; committee weighs student disruption
Summary
Organizers of Quakertown’s annual carnival asked the district to host the event at QE the last week of school (June 2–6), proposing fences to preserve recess and offering neighborhood compensation; staff and the committee raised concerns about educational disruption and logistics and said they will recommend a site to the board after consulting school leadership.
Carnival organizers told the facilities committee Feb. 17 they would like to host the annual carnival at Quakerridge Elementary (QE) during the last week of school, June 2–6, and offered to fence playground areas and provide logistics support to avoid interfering with students’ outdoor activities.
Don Emmett (Quakertown Fire Company West End No. 18) and Carnival representatives presented five years of carnival financials and said their calendar shift to June made some traditional park locations unavailable. "If we say no to this guy, which we already have a contract with, he can take that week and give it to somebody else," Speaker 11 told the committee, warning the district could lose the booking for the year.
School staff and committee members raised concerns about student disruptions during the final week of classes — barbecues, field day and graduation are scheduled around the same dates — and discussed mitigation options such as fencing the playground so recess could continue and using the blacktop or closing nearby streets to host some activities. Rob and other staff suggested moving carnival operations to the high-school 5th-Street site or a campus site to minimize impacts on QE students.
Borough representatives offered operational help, including temporary electric and permitting assistance and, if needed, road closures to free up street space for carnival staging. Committee members asked staff to consult school leadership (including the principal and district planning staff) and to include parents in site planning; the committee signaled a recommendation to find a site and work through logistics, with final placement to be decided by the board.
Next steps: staff will consult with school leadership and the borough, refine site options (QE vs. high school vs. 5th Street), and present a recommendation to the full board in March. The carnival organizers asked for a timely decision to avoid forfeiting their contractor booking.
