Facing protests and lawsuits, Blue Valley, Olathe districts will allow fall sports
Facing lawsuits and ongoing protests, both the Blue Valley and Olathe school districts will now allow fall sports.
Despite rising cases of coronavirus in Johnson County, the Olathe school board voted Thursday to allow high school sports and activities to resume, and the Blue Valley superintendent announced the same Friday morning.
During a four-hour meeting, the Olathe school board voted 5-2 to follow the county health department’s criteria for opening schools — which puts the county in the “red” zone — except for sports.
“If it becomes an issue where things are going in the wrong direction, we put a halt to it,” said board member Brian Geary. “But I do feel like there’s enough from a mental health capacity and from risk mitigation that we can do. Which we showed we can do (during summer practices). We need to give a little on this. I think we have to listen to our people that we’re hearing from.”
The decision came after hundreds of parents and students protested outside of the meeting, urging the district to open schools and let their students play.
But board member Shannon Wickliffe issued a warning, saying he felt uncomfortable going against health experts’ guidance.
“I’m not an epidemiologist; I’m not a public health expert. I said from the beginning I would rely on health experts. And I’ve got a recommendation in front of me that if we’re in the ‘red,’ we’re not going to do any activity, period,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to have all of our kids back in person. And if we contribute to community spread, that’s not going to happen. It just isn’t.”
“I struggle with the fact that it could potentially damage our ability to get students back in class sooner,” he said. Wickliffe and board member Kristin Schultz were the only “no” votes.
Olathe last month decided to start the school year this Tuesday with online-only classes for older students. But elementary students will be allowed to return in a hybrid model, going in person part of the time and learning from home the rest of the week. That decision follows Johnson County’s guidance.
But board members decided to go against health officials’ recommendations as they relate to sports. The district will allow activities to continue, with a catch.
Even if Olathe moves to hybrid or in-person learning for middle and high schoolers, students who participate in high-risk activities, such as football, where social distancing is impossible, will be required to learn online only. Officials hope that will limit the spread of COVID-19 in classrooms.
After the season ends, players must take remote classes for two additional weeks or have a COVID-19 test come back negative. Students and parents also must also sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of participating in sports.
Geary said he felt the district needed to “reward” students who have been practicing sports with masks and social distancing all summer. He also worries that kids will continue to play sports at athletic facilities and clubs throughout the region if schools don’t allow them.
“If our county leadership won’t shut down the place and they think it’s too dangerous, why should we?” he said.
As of Friday, Johnson County had reported 8,522 coronavirus cases, and 120 people have died from the virus. Over the past 14 days, 11.6% of tests have come back positive. That rate would need to be below 5% for the county to recommend schools fully reopen.
Sanmi Areola, county public health director, addressed the issue Wednesday during a virtual town hall hosted by the Shawnee Mission school district.
“Parents who are demanding that schools reopen, that tell me athletics need to start,” he said, “this is a chance for you to help contain community spread.”
In the Blue Valley district, officials last month announced they would suspend all sports, plus start the school year this Wednesday with older students learning online and elementary students returning to class part-time. That decision was based on state criteria, which includes several key metrics showing the spread of COVID-19 in the area.
A committee formed to examine the data and determined the district was in the “orange” zone, meaning sports should stop. The district also confirmed last month that more than 100 Blue Valley West football players were in quarantine because three people tested positive for COVID-19.
But on Friday, Superintendent Tonya Merrigan announced that the district has determined it is now in the “yellow” zone under the Kansas State Department of Education’s criteria. Merrigan said the district will allow all high school sports and activities to resume with restrictions — that includes high-risk activities, like football and dance.
Before the announcement, five high school golfers sued the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts over their decisions to temporarily ban all sports. A Blue Valley mother who has been pushing for sports to resume, Laura Rozell, also filed a complaint with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, saying the district violated open meetings law when it decided how to start the school year.
Blue Valley will allow high school sports starting on Saturday through Oct. 2, then reevaluate the data.
“As a former high school counselor and administrator, the value of our activities and athletics programs is not lost on me,” Merrigan said in a statement. “I know these voluntary programs play an important role in the total educational experience for our middle and high school students.”
Both Blue Valley and Olathe decided to ban middle school sports.
And games and competitions will look different. Crowd sizes will be limited, and social distancing and masks will be required. Blue Valley also decided to restrict competitions to the Kansas City area.
Shawnee Mission is now the outlier among the three major districts in Johnson County, as it continues to suspend sports and will require students in all grades to learn online when school starts next week.
On the Missouri side, last week, Rockhurst High School played Raymore-Peculiar in one of the area’s first high school football games of the season. But the season is unusual, with some districts in the metro allowing fall sports and some firmly forbidding them.
On Thursday, Areola cautioned that the number of new coronavirus cases continues to trend upward.
“It’s a holiday weekend and we do want to reemphasize to our residents that we really don’t want to get any worse than where we are,” he told the Johnson County Board of Commissioners. “No matter what you think in terms of the approaches we’re using, this is not a time that we can afford large crowds. It’s not a time we can afford house parties. And it’s really a time that we have to do all we can to not let this get any worse.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 11:59 AM.
