Perhaps the most impassioned plea came from Rodney Nixon, an educational support professional at Indian Trail who works with underprivileged kids. Nixon said he’s had five of his own kids go through KUSD, four who played sports. His son Daviyon is a standout defensive lineman at Iowa who has aspirations of playing in the NFL.

“If you take this away from them, they’re going to turn and go the opposite way,” Nixon said. “Let’s try to keep everything in a positive manner. I don’t want to throw statistics at you, because every one of you guys has been throwing numbers. I’m asking you to look deep down inside of your heart and think about your grandchildren, think about your family members, just think about Kenosha as a whole. Let’s move forward and vote yes.

“I’m pleading with you, because if you let these kids walk the other way, it’s going to be a terrible outcome for our city.”

There were many vocal advocates of high school sports before the meeting, too. In addition to advocating for in-person schooling, protestors shouted toward honking horns on 52nd Street and held signs with slogans such as, “Let them play.”

Tami Hogan, whose son Luke is a sophomore wrestler and football player at Indian Trail, empathized with the tough decisions the school board must make and said she’d understand whatever they voted for on Tuesday. But she was there to support her son and other student-athletes and said she feels comfortable with him practicing and playing.