One day before the homecoming dance, Wilson students were surprised with a last-minute cap on the number of students permitted to purchase homecoming tickets. Rather than implementing the cap a day before the dance, Wilson’s administration should’ve planned around this issue weeks in advance.

Although there was no official announcement from the Wilson administration, student body president Vanessa Ramones says that the limit was due in part to a lack of chaperones and COVID-19 restrictions.

 “The people who are supposed to supervise us during the homecoming dance can’t supervise our entire school,” which she attributes to the location. “If it were in the atrium, it would be easier to control the crowd, but it’s 800 kids on the Wilson field, which makes it a lot harder.”

Wilson could and should have planned around this issue weeks in advance. It’s been two years since Wilson has had a homecoming and our student body is bigger than ever, so it stands to reason that there is going to be higher attendance. From there it’s simple: a larger group of students requires more chaperones. But even just announcing the decision a day earlier would allow students who really wanted to go a chance to buy tickets before it was too late.

In terms of covid restrictions, planning should also have been done far in advance. If they were unable to host more than 800 students at homecoming due to COVID-19 restrictions, they should have planned for that from the start. They could test every student the afternoon before, or plan to only have the safe amount of kids in the first place. 

Most students have never even been to a Wilson school dance. With two grades of students unfamiliar with Wilson culture, and a year and a half of isolation, teenagers are dying to have quintessential high school experiences. 

The worst part of the limit was the lack of advance notice. The SGA was informed only Thursday October 14, and the student body  found out the next day. No priority was given to upperclassmen, and tickets were sold out before first period on October 15. 

There is one group who was most affected by this cap: seniors. For the class of 2022, this will be their final homecoming dance at Wilson, after missing the chance to attend one last year.  It was as if everywhere I looked, there was a moping senior who had been waiting to buy a ticket and could not go to homecoming.

Given the limit, the least the administration could’ve done was to give priority to seniors who wanted to attend the dance. Underclassmen, many of whom bought tickets further in advance, are effectively displacing seniors wishing to attend, which is salt in the wound for seniors who did not get a ticket. •