Homecoming tickets a hot item (literally) at FGHS
100 dance passes, worth $900, lifted from school office a day before event
The theft of 100 dance tickets from a classroom at Forest Grove High School 12 days ago marred “one of the best homecomings ever,” according to leadership advisor Howard Sullivan.
Tickets valued at about $900 were stolen one day before the traditional fall dance on Oct. 24. Seventy to 80 of them were retrieved that afternoon, Sullivan said.
Forest Grove Police Capt. Aaron Ashbaugh said FGHS staff reported the tickets missing around 9 a.m. Oct. 23.
After several students came forward with information, a 17-year-old male student was identified in connection with the theft.
“Right now it appears that a civil compromise may be utilized rather than a criminal prosecution,” Ashbaugh said.
Assistant principal Karen Robinson said the student with the group of tickets distributed them to others, who later apologized for their participation in the caper. “They were sorry for what they did, and I think they’ll learn from their mistake,” she said.
Tickets to the dance were sold during lunch periods in the days leading up to homecoming. Each ticket was numbered, and students were required to sign their name on a sheet of paper next to that number as a security measure.
Two leadership students were assigned to sell the tickets, collect the money and secure it in bookkeeper Jennifer Collins’ office, he added.
But that process proved to be anything but foolproof.
Several students holding some of the 100 stolen tickets attempted to enter the dance Oct. 24 and were turned away, Sullivan said.
“We knew which numbers we had sold, so when those (unsold) numbers came through, we did not let those students in,” he said.
A few of the teens purchased legitimate tickets and were granted entry to the event, which carried a theme of “Jungle Love.”
Better guardians
Sullivan himself shouldered at least part of the blame for the heisted homecoming tickets.
“Because we’re the leadership class, we’ve been given opportunities and privileges others don’t have,” he said. “We need to be better guardians of that job.”
Student leaders and Sullivan decided at a post-homecoming evaluation meeting to keep an even tighter lid on ticket sales next year.
As for the student who allegedly lifted the tickets, “he paid a price,” Sullivan noted. “He missed out on parts of his school year he can’t get back.”
Despite the incident, Sullivan declared homecoming a success. “We ended up having one of our largest and most profitable homecomings ever,” he said. “We’re happy about that.”