Stage Collapse Probe

The original pit cover at Westfield High School had been removed in January and the school employee bought building materials and built a new cover based on his own design with the help of students, they added. When that replacement was installed, it lacked metal supports underneath it and had a header beam that wasn’t properly secured to the stage structure.

Prosecutors have decided against filing charges over the April 23 stage failure during the grand finale of an “American Pie” concert, in which 17 students were injured. Westfield Washington Schools Superintendent Mark Keen said the original was braced by steel frames that anchor into the concrete subfloor. However, the replacement did not incorporate those metal supports – or any other vertical supports – in its construction.

“These steel metal structures hold the pit [cover] in place so that it can’t fall. This had none of that in place. It was just inserted and nailed into the trim around the outside of the pit opening,” Keen said.

The auditorium director hasn’t been suspended and there’s no work for him presently at the school because the auditorium remains closed. When the district’s investigation is done, he said “we will take whatever appropriate course of action” is needed.