Fountain Valley students enjoy their time at last year’s Pack the Gym. Photo by Steve Phan.by Tejas Chadha, Staff Writer
After a student brought a fake gun to the Pack the Gym dance, Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) was forced to shut down the dance and send the students home due to safety concerns.
To replace that dance, the Associated Student Body (ASB) will be hosting another dance on March 24 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The dance will be free of charge to all current FVHS students. In addition, new security measures will be put in place to avoid any possibilities of another incident similar to the previous dance occurring.
“Prom and homecoming are more considered dances that are considered fundraising , but this dance isn’t considered a fundraiser. It’s not like a senior commission dance. It hurts us because we couldn’t do it and now we’re paying for another one,” said Assistant Principal of Activities Josh Lamar.
The goal of the Pack the Gym dance is not to fundraise for any school programs. It is thrown purely for the students and the ticket sales are only used to cover the costs of the dance. Unfortunately, students will not be receiving refunds from the last Pack the Gym dance because of the logistics of having to return thousands of dollars to hundreds of students.
“Our first goal with anything we do is the safety of students and staff,” said Lamar.
Some of the new safety measures for the dance include increased staff member supervision, breathalyzers and a double check-in system that will pat down students at the entrances and exits of the cafeteria. The Fountain Valley Police Department will be checking in on the dance. In addition, metal detectors will be used to check in students and added security will be placed all exits of the dance to make sure no one sneaks in or out.
“What helped us last time was that a student spoke up and I think that’s really important because if you can share with the students that if they speak up, if they see something that doesn’t belong or someone that doesn’t belong, or someone hurt or intoxicated, or anything that can pose a danger, then that’s huge,” said Lamar. “That’s probably the very best thing we can do is encourage students to speak up.”
