The future of the annual homecoming parade at Skyline High School appears safe after Sammamish councillors responded favorably to calls to keep it on 228th Avenue Southeast.

The council had raised the issue of the moving the popular parade, which is staged in October and runs along 228th between Skyline High School and Discovery Elementary, after receiving some complaints from motorists and residents about delays to traffic and altered routes.

However, following several impassioned pleas from Skyline students and parents, the council appeared convinced of the parade’s importance and value to the community. Susie Wiley of the Skyline PTSA said that moving the parade to another street “would gut it, at the least, I believe it would probably kill it. Two-hundred and twenty-eighth Street is the main street of our city, and parades belong on the main street. We have about 40,000 people living in Sammamish, and there were about 12 complaints — that’s a success. What other projects can you say have that few complaints?”

Wiley’s convincing speech followed addresses from Skyline students Emily Hutchings, Tara Northey and Kate Londgren.

“We’ve seen the impact that the parade has had on the community,” she said. “It is important in helping us build a strong community.”

The councillors agreed. City staff will most likely seek another way to reduce the inconvenience to motorists, possibly by shifting the parade forward an hour.