Pennsylvania Crowd Sizes Grow Amid Political Battles

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Some Pennsylvania school districts are preparing to allow more fans in the stands following a federal judgeā€™s ruling that struck down statewide pandemic limits on crowd size.

As reported by The Express of Lock Haven, governor Tom Wolf's administration is appealing last week's ruling, but a number of districts have already opted to go their own way, including the Altoona Area School District, which will allow up to 3,400 spectators at Mansion Park Stadium ā€” 33 percent of its capacity ā€” for Fridayā€™s game. If that goes well, Altoona would let more than 5,000 attend the following weekā€™s rivalry game against nearby Hollidaysburg.

The state Department of Education has asked schools to voluntarily comply with Wolfā€™s since-invalidated gathering restrictions, which had been set at 25 fans for indoor events and 250 outdoors until the court ruled last week that such limits were unconstitutional.

Related: Pennsylvania Governor Vetos Bill on HS Crowd Size

House Republicans lost an override vote this Wednesday on Wolfā€™s veto of a bill that would have given school boards the ability to make decisions on sports and extracurricular activities, including whether and how many spectators to allow. It had passed the House earlier this month with 150 ā€œyesā€ votes, but the override tally, 130-71, fell slightly short of the required supermajority.

Representative Mike Reese (R-Westmoreland) called the proposal a return to common sense, but minority Leader Frank Dermody warned that itā€™s ā€œfollyā€ to act like the coronavirus is going away.

ā€œThis is about politics,ā€ said Dermody (D-Allegheny). ā€œThis is not about the safety of our children. Itā€™s not about the welfare of student-athletes.ā€

Schools are taking some precautions. 

The Altoona School District is requiring that people wear masks when entering the stadium or going to the restroom or concession stand. ā€œI donā€™t know what Friday night will look like, because everyoneā€™s really, as you can imagine, itching to get out,ā€ said spokesperson Paula Foreman. ā€œEven when people get into those stands, there is certainly enough spacing in that stadium to keep everyone pretty well distanced.ā€

The Eastern Lancaster School District will allow as many as 1,000 people into its stadium, and up to 148 for indoor events like girls' volleyball.

The Hempfield Area School District outside Pittsburgh intends to distribute two tickets to each football player, cheerleader and band member. District officials estimate that will result in no more than 1,000 people in a stadium that holds about 6,000. Concession stands will be closed, and spectators wonā€™t be allowed to mill about.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association told member schools that Wolfā€™s caps arenā€™t mandatory, ā€œat least for the moment,ā€ and that each school can make its own decision on crowds at games.

ā€œIf schools decide to increase the 25/250 limits, they should exercise caution and good judgment in setting numbers for attendance at indoor and outdoor sports,ā€ wrote PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi.

At a news conference Tuesday, Wolf said he monitored attendance at football games last weekend ā€” days after the judgeā€™s ruling ā€” and said ā€œthere were very few schools, if any, that had big, big crowds at their events.ā€ He surmised that people ā€œself-regulatedā€ and stayed away to avoid crowds.

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