By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hoisington USD 431 Board of Education elected to close the fitness center during school-related activities at the Hoisington Activity Center. The years coming out of COVID, the fitness center has remained closed during hours of activities such as volleyball matches, the Winter Jam basketball tournament or Sub-State basketball tournaments.
School board member Becky Mooney said there might be a few patrons that go to the fitness center and then watch the games for free.
"How do you keep those people from attending a game?" said Mooney. "Most people have to pay to get in. They're going into the fitness center and coming out and watching a game for free. The question is how do we police that? Are we talking about enough people that it's really going to make much of a difference?"
During this past school year, there were 31 times that the fitness center closed early due to Hoisington school district activities out of 184 possible days.
The USD 431 school board voted to keep the fitness center open during district activities. The Hoisington Recreation Commission has agreed to have staff members available during the open hours.