Post Prom Opens Its Doors to Union Grove High School; Will be Televised, Online

Update, 8:30 pm, March 13: Post Prom Chair Julie Craig came to the Sturtevant Continual Committee meeting Tuesday to talk with trustees about plans and how the process is moving along. With nine high schools now attending and students asking for laser tag and live entertainment that includes fire dancers, moving to the Sturtevant SportsPlex was really about finding enough space. This will be first year since Post Prom began in 1953 that the annual event is not in the City of Racine.

“We’re expecting around 1,800 students this year,” she said. “We do plan to utilize the whole complex.”

This is also the first year Union Grove High School will attend and the red carpet arrivals will be broadcast live on Channel 18 WVTV and streamed online as well. In the last few years, Time Warner Cable’s Channel 25 would broadcast the arrivals, but Craig said using a broadcast network allows for a wider audience.

From which school will arrive at what time, the routes students will take to get to Post Prom from their home schools, coordinating crowd control barriers, where students and spectators will park and working with multiple law enforcement agencies and municipalities, there’s a lot of work to be done.

A portion of that work will entail meetings with village representatives. Village Administrator Mark Janiuk said he was surprised that until the Tuesday meeting, Rotary had not been in touch with the village.

“There are lots of things to be done but Rotary needs to take the lead,” he said.

Specifically, there could be significant overtime costs for the police and public works departments. Organizers of special events like the Ruud Rush, for example, usually pay for the increased police presence and any responsibilities of the Department of Public Works. But, Janiuk said there have been no conversations to hammer out those agreements.

“This small village can’t absorb that cost,” he said.

With the probable closure of Highways 11, 20, and H at some point during the evening, resolutions of approval will have to pass the County Board. Similar procedures will also have to go before the Racine Common Council and applicable Village Boards to close local roadways.

Racine County Supervisor Jim Ladwig said he hasn’t had any formal conversations with Rotary, but he’s willing to pitch in to help make the night a success.

“The County is ready to offer assistance to make Post Prom safe and successful for all the students who attend,” he told Patch after the meeting.

Craig admitted there was a lot she didn’t know, but she asked trustees to tell her.

“I understand logistics need to change,” she said. “But if there’s something I need to do, tell me, because I may not know. It was certainly not my intention to keep the village out of communications.”

Instead, she said it seemed to make more sense to start having conversations with the police so that when she did approach the village, she would come armed with information.

For the last several years, Craig said the City has volunteered officers and other services. Having agreements in place on who pays for what is something new, she added.

Police seems to be the issue that needs addressing sooner rather than later. Sturtevant Police Chief Sean Marschke said he’s already had conversations with the Racine Police Department and is taking their advice, and the City has promised 13 to 15 officers to help with the motorcade. Still, with a new chief taking office prior to the event and the possibility that the City may not want to assume liability for their officers even if they work outside the City that night.

“Racine has been great to work with on Post Prom,” he told Craig and the trustees. “But if something happens and they pull their support, I’ll have to extend further for resources.”

Mount Pleasant would normally be an option, but they’ll have their hands full already with having to secure 13 intersections along the parade route, and the Racine County Sheriff’s Office will be escorting students from Union Grove.

In the end, the Village Board wanted Craig to know they are happy Post Prom is coming to Sturtevant even as they work out the details.

“We want this to be successful,” said Village President Steve Jansen. “But it does have to be a win-win-win for everyone because we are a small village and we have responsibilities. It’s great that Post Prom will be in Sturtevant. Now, we just need to keep the lines of communication open.”

There is a meeting scheduled on Thursday to discuss some of these details.

The nine high schools participating are Case, Horlick, Park, St. Catherine’s, Racine Lutheran, Prairie, the REAL School, Walden, and Union Grove.

Post Prom is scheduled from 8:30 pm to 2 am on Sat., May 19, at the Sturtevant SportsPlex.

Original Story: Some major prom news was revealed Tuesday night, during a presentation and discussion at a meeting of the Sturtevant Continual Committee.

• Post Prom will no longer be an east-of-the-I affair. Union Grove High School is joining in for the first time.
• The red carpet arrivals will be on broadcast television, shown to a five-county audience on WVTV Channel 18. 
• Cirque du Soleil fire dancers will perform. 

The information, being presented to the committee right now (at 7 p.m.), is also raising questions about things like communication between Rotary and the Village of Sturtevant, whether the county will agree to allow County H to be closed for the Union Grove parade, and who will pay overtime for police if they don't volunteer to help. 

Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch Local Editor Heather Asiyanbi is at the Continual Committee now. More information will be available later this evening.