 CLOSE PROXIMITY SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES REMAIN CANCELLED FOR FALL IN THE LORAIN SCHOOLS
On Tuesday, Governor Mike DeWine announced that high school sports can go forward in Ohio. This announcement comes a week after we shared that we are canceling the fall season of football, volleyball, soccer, cheer and marching band. As a result, many families have inquired whether the Governor’s announcement affects the potential for close proximity sports in the district this fall. The Lorain City Schools is optimistic about the possibility of moving fall sports to the spring, assuming the spread of the coronavirus continues to decrease and that conditions in spring are more safe for our students.
Close proximity sports remain cancelled for fall in the Lorain City Schools. Please know that the decision to cancel the above sports and activities this fall came after many conversations with members of our Board of Education, district administrators and health professionals over the past month. One of the determining factors for this decision was our inability to keep our children and their families safe under current conditions, and especially on the field of competitive play. The Governor’s announcement doesn’t change those realities for us here in Lorain, especially when the research is very clear that infection rates are significantly higher for minority and low-income children.
Today we learned that Lorain County is moving once again from "orange" to "red" status within the Ohio Public Advisory System, indicating a county has triggered four or five of the seven indicators, and there is very high exposure and spread.
One of the questions I’ve been struggling with the most from our parents is why we don’t just trust them to make the right decision for their children. But for me, it’s not about that. Yes, many parents are enforcing masks and social distancing with their children. But there are also plenty of people in our community, and in the communities we compete against, who don’t. Every weekend it seems there’s another protest about the right to not wear masks, or to discredit the pandemic as a ‘hoax.’ When our children come into contact with those who don’t trust the science or practice the recommendations of the CDC it puts our children and their families in harm's way. And at the risk of sounding dramatic, this issue is, for us, truly life or death. I understand it is an awful thing for many of our student athletes to know they won’t be playing this fall. I’ve looked at this issue from every angle, and unfortunately, there is no decision I can make that doesn’t hurt kids. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to ever be in the position where I have to share my condolences with the family of one of our students, knowing I could have done more. I wouldn’t be able to look them in the eye and say, ‘I didn’t see this coming.’ I can see what’s coming. So I’ll continue to do all I can to keep our kids safe so that they can return to school, in-person, as soon as possible.
Thanks for your support,
Jeff |