Mattie Bacani
Aragon’s Parent Teacher Student Organization Co-President Margie Kim launched a petition on May 22 calling for expanded stadium seating on behalf of Aragon’s Athletic Boosters, Music Boosters and PTSO, gaining 971 signatures out of the 1,000-supporter goal.
The purpose of the petition is to encourage the San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees to prioritize this project within the Facilities Master Plan after six years of consistent requests. The Facilities Master Plan guides decisions about maintaining and modernizing district school facilities. In this case, officials will examine the proposed project for expanded bleachers to see if it aligns with Aragon’s safety codes.
“I know that it’s expensive for our district to cover the cost of our bleachers, but our students deserve it,” said Aragon Band Director Kevin Gallagher. “Our community deserves it. Some of the other schools are getting brand new athletic centers, so it’s Aragon’s turn to have that upgrade as well.”
Organizers believe that increased stadium seating would bring the Aragon community together.
“Our role is to advocate together for our community’s needs and ask for a clear path forward,” Kim said. “We have also encouraged a phased approach if that helps move improvements forward: for example, expanding the home bleachers first while planning for the more complicated visitor-side improvements which will be costly and may require a bond measure.”
The petition states that Aragon has some of the most limited seating capacity of any high school in the area, with a total of 650 seats for nearly 1,700 students.
“Crowded standing areas raise concerns about accessibility, clear walkways and emergency access,” Kim said. “Limited seating also restricts opportunities for our music program to participate [in pep band] and for us to hold school-wide gatherings. It’s
also an equity issue that our seating-to-student ratio is far lower than the other schools in the district.”
Junior and junior varsity cheerleading captain Cali McFadden has seen overcrowding with the bleachers.
“Our student section, every time, gets so full that everyone ends up having to stand, and there’s people around the snack shack
area,” McFadden said. “Since this year we’re a really big team, it’s hard since our bleachers are so short and [our formation is] so long that sometimes some [cheerleaders] are performing not in front of people.”
If the Aragon bleachers are expanded, it would be possible for an Aragon pep band to perform at games.
“We’re lacking school spirit in terms of the band program and connections between the band program and sports fields because we don’t have any real way for us to connect with each other,” said senior and Wind Ensemble flute player Jackson Keane. “That is definitely partially due to the bleachers. It’s a missed opportunity.”
Supporters of enlarged bleachers believe it will cause an increase in school spirit.
“We just had a game against Capuchino and when we went there they had big bleachers and their band,” McFadden said. “Their band definitely brought some atmosphere. If we ever had the opportunity for a marching band, that would hopefully help with our spirit.”
Gary Tobin, an Aragon alumnus who attended the school when it first opened, remarked on how the school’s needs have evolved in the time since.
“I don’t think it was an issue [then, since] our first year only fielded a [junior varsity] team and there were only 500 out of 600 students who attended [the games],” Tobin said.
For football head coach Ash Parham, who said he has wanted expanded bleachers since 2022, the petition is a sign of community support.
“I was excited,” Parham said. “I thought it was only a few people, like the football players and coaches and athletic directors who would complain about the size of bleachers. But it was great to see the community getting behind the effort.”
The Facilities Master Plan, potentially including plans for larger bleachers, will be approved by the board on Nov. 19.
