ADAMS TWP — Parents from the girls and boys youth basketball organization, as well as the musical theater program spoke at a Mars Area school board meeting Tuesday evening to discuss challenges faced by students and families who participate in the programs.

Jennifer Roush of the Mars Musical Theater Boosters said that in August that students and parents discovered that items and props from the musical’s in-progress set had been moved to a dirt-floor metal shed on the Mars Area Centennial School campus.

Some items and props from the collection were damaged or missing, Roush said, estimating that about $10,000 in materials had been affected.

“We as a volunteer organization are trying to understand the circumstances around this move — why no one from the department was involved,” Roush said. “We are just asking tonight ... why this occurred, who will be funding the missing items, and how to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

“We can’t in good faith continue to fundraise, not trusting that our property will be treated with respect,” she added. “We’re teaching our children to ask before touching someone else’s belongings, and we would expect the same courtesy going forward with the theater items.”

Lauren Roush, a high school student and a member of the stage crew, asked the board to take the issue into consideration.

“It devastates me to see the items that we worked on either thrown away or stored improperly,” she said. “The work of trying to create the set for the fall play has been very challenging, physically and mentally. On behalf of the entire crew and cast, It would be appreciated if you would take this time to resolve it.”

Superintendent Mark Gross said items from the set were moved during the summer following a security walk-through and fire drill because they were blocking fire exits. He said he was not aware of items being damaged or lost but asked to see a list of the potentially affected items and agreed to address the issue.

Gross also suggested the possibility of moving items to a room in the high school instead of an outdoor shed for the future.

“In general, if we’re storing things that are made out of wood and paper in an area with a dirt floor, it’s probably not going to end well,” board member Anthony DePretis said.

Parents from the Mars Boys and Girls Youth Basketball programs asked the district to work to find more gym availability for the sports organization to hold practices.

Mike Sherwin, a volunteer with the program, said the organization has experienced significant growth in recent years and is struggling to find space to practice in the elementary school gymnasium, with some gym use being limited by a shortage of custodial staff.

“The gym isn’t even being used, at least to the best of our knowledge,” Sherwin said. “We are passionate about this. Obviously, this is one of the programs in our community that the kids really enjoy. We hope to work with you and the other members of the district to be able to come to a solution and be collaborative about this for the kids.”

Gross said that while the district is facing a lack of custodial staff, he is working with athletic director Zach Matusak to find a solution to gym access for the association.

“I believe we are going to work that out, as long as there are agreements with the association on how you find it and how you leave it,” Gross said. “We are trying to work out a deal. There is a district issue with the lack of those resources, but we think that folks like yourself, responsible individuals can go in there and use it.”