With the completion of Marauder Stadium last fall, tailgating before football games has become increasingly popular. The parking lot directly in front of the stadium is always filled with parents of athletes and cheerleaders setting up food and playing loud music.

But lately it has come to the attention of school officials that some parents are drinking alcohol while tailgating. What parents may not have realized is that it is illegal not just for students but for anyone to consume alcohol on or within 300 feet of school property.

Principal Gary Shafferman said he heard talk of parents drinking at games this year as well, but did not witness any of it.

“I was just told that there were a few that had been drinking, but the question was, had they been drinking before they got there, or were they drinking on our site,” Shafferman said.

Administration will continue to make efforts to halt parental drinking during tailgating at home football games.

Last year, two parents were escorted from the stadium by police while intoxicated.

Senior Madison Madere’s parents became involved with tailgating at home games this year after her brother became a freshman. Drinking among parents in the parking lot, she said, is “definitely popular.”

“Kids, we all drink sodas, and the parents all have their beer,” Madere said. “I don’t even know if they know that it’s illegal.”

Tailgating only lasted about an hour for most adults, Madere said.

“My parents have to drive us home and they’re usually in charge of other kids so they want to be responsible,” Madere said.

Still, she said she had witnessed some parents whose drinking was “out of control.”

“When you’re at the football game you have some parents that get really rowdy, especially if the refs make the wrong call,” Madere said. “They take situations out of proportion, and sometimes you can smell it on their breath, and it’s bad.”

Government teacher Dori Loughborough sits in the reserved section off to the side, and said that she has never seen parents drinking at the actual game. She has only tailgated once, but said parents probably do consume alcohol on school grounds.

“I think it’s inappropriate,” Loughborough said. “It is illegal. It’s a high school game. I think parents have a responsibility to set an example for their kids. This is not Cowboys stadium. This is a different environment.”

About 12 Flower Mound police officers patrol home games, stationed in the parking lot or at locations around the stadium. If a student is found to be drinking at a game, the police are involved and can choose to give tickets. Even if a ticket is not issued, the student is given 30 days in DAEP.

“We’re always supportive of filing charges against them [students] because we want them to be safe,” Shafferman said.

Adults who drink on school grounds are also subject to a ticket. Officer Wendell Mitchell of the Flower Mound Police Department said that he is not aware of any action taken towards parental drinking this past season. The possession of alcohol on school grounds is a Class C misdemeanor.

“It should be something that the police deal with,” Shafferman said. “I would say that if it became a continuous problem with one particular group, I would meet with them and tell them not to come back.”

Next year, Shafferman said he will go around and discuss drinking with every tailgating group.

“I think the biggest problem is what message it sends to the kids. High school sports is all about the kids and we need to remember that,” Shafferman said. “Obviously, we always say to kids that you can have fun without drinking…You don’t need alcohol to have fun.”