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District 118 rejects stadium seating plan

A proposal to sell reserved seats at the Wauconda High School athletic stadium met with opposition Thursday and won't move forward, officials said.

The plan was put forth by the Wauconda High School Boosters Club as a fundraiser for the organization and the district's extracurricular programs.

According to a memo from Superintendent Daniel Coles, the plan called for 120 individual stadium seats to be added to the grandstand bleachers on the home-team side. They'd be installed over the existing bleachers in eight rows at the 50-yard line.

The Booster Club would then sell the seats for $75 each annually. They'd give the owners prime seats for all home football and soccer games.

The club predicted making about $6,000 annually from the seat sales, according to Coles' memo.

Other suburban school districts have implemented similar fundraising efforts, officials said.

When Wauconda Unit District 118 officials discussed the plan Thursday night during a committee-of-the-whole meeting, the opposition was significant.

Many audience members spoke against the plan, as did some board members, panel President John Armstrong said.

"It didn't really seem like this was a good idea right now," Armstrong said.

Some people feared it would create an elite group of sports fans, Armstrong said.

"It didn't really fit in with the tone in Wauconda," he said.

The ability for people to pay for the seats also was an issue, Coles said in an email to the Daily Herald.

Because the session was a committee-of-the-whole meeting, the board members took no formal vote on the proposal. District officials said the concept will not move forward.

"We won't revisit it any time in the near future," Armstrong said.

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