New changes to fan behavior rules outlining expectations for student dress code when attending Collier County Public School events and activities were announced last week. Primarily, the district dress code for school hours will be adopted for all after-school activities at a CCPS site.
The NHS football game against Golden Gate High School on Sept. 15 was the first game after the announcement of fan behavior changes. An informative video was broadcast featuring Assistant Principal Quintero, Athletic Director Barone and Assistant Principal Maya announcing that a Canvas announcement was published with the new fan behavior rules.
The expectation from the district was that school sites would enact the policies as soon as possible.
“After receiving the update on fan expectations for after-school events, we would enforce the policy, but would do so in a way that allowed everyone the ability to enjoy the game while still expressing school spirit,” Maya said.
The administration had to devise an effective plan to introduce these new policies to the student body and have time to enforce them. The update and enforcement of the dress code during after-school activities coincide with the expectations during the school day without exceptions, regardless of game day theme or gender.
“[I believe] there are male and female individuals who have broken the dress code at football games,” Maya said. “I see boys in the stands not having their shirts on, and that is a little egregious.”
Despite the new focus on dress code, the top priority for NHS remains the safety of event goers.
“I believe I speak for the administration when I say our main focus is the safety and security of the people at our football games, and so previously we didn’t go out of our way to enforce the dress code because to be blunt, safety was a priority at that time,” Maya said.
Although the district states that those in defiance of the fan expectations will be removed from the site without a refund, NHS is committed to providing all those in attendance a fair chance of staying for the event.
“We had a few who came in, maybe wearing something they shouldn’t be wearing, but we offered them a Naples High shirt to wear and to keep for free, instead of asking them to leave and not giving a refund,” Maya said.
