The Unified Government Health Department on Friday sent a letter to the school districts in Wyandotte County strongly recommending that schools not allow winter indoor sports or activities.
The sports would include basketball and wrestling, and other indoor winter sports, according to the Health Department.
The letter stated that it is a recommendation and not an order, and the school board for each district would make the decision on whether to allow winter sports.
The UG Health Department recommendation follows on the heels of a similar recommendation by the Johnson County Health Department against playing winter sports.
The indoor setting of winter sports is important, according to the health experts. The UG Health Department also expects to see a larger increase in the spread of the virus related to indoor gatherings around the upcoming holidays.
“One place where we have the best chance to control the increased spread of the virus is within our schools,” the UG Health Department letter stated. “Our overarching goal has always been to protect the health and well-being of students, teachers, school staff and families by carefully considering all risks and weighing them against the benefits of social interactions and learning modes.”
Janell Friesen, a spokesman for the UG Health Department, said there is a concern about a higher risk of spread of COVID-19 in the winter months.
With so many of the winter activities and sports being indoors, there’s a greater risk of spread of COVID-19 in schools, and it could potentially result in making it hard to keep kids in classrooms, she said.
The UG Health Department also outlined guidance for schools and sports and activities clubs that choose not to follow the recommendation against winter sports.
Those recommendations included carefully cohorting participating students; quickly identifying infections and taking steps to prevent spread of the virus to others; limiting spectator attendance to immediate family only; and regularly monitoring for symptoms among students, coaches and staff.
The Health Department has had ongoing communication with the schools, Friesen said, including regular communication with superintendents in the area about COVID-19. The Health Department’s epidemiology team also works very closely with school nurses, she said. They are now working on providing testing and supplies for schools.
The similarity to Johnson County’s sports announcement is not by accident. Friesen said there were some leaders involved in trying to align school sports policy a little in the metropolitan area, and that it should reduce confusion.
Friesen said the fall sports order, prohibiting fall sports in school that are close contact sports, will not apply any more. The mask mandate is still in place in Wyandotte County, she added.
No new orders are in place now, although there is one amendment to an order that will allow flexibility for how many students are in a classroom, she said. Previously 50 percent of capacity was allowed, now the number will be based on square footage, with 36 square feet required per student.
Friesen said the Health Department is trying to work closely with the schools and offer support, and will continue to provide guidance and work with them on it.
In the Turner Public Schools, Lauren Aiello, community liaison, said that the Turner Board of Education would consider the recommendation at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday.
Janey Humphries, a Kansas City, Kansas, school board member, said that the KCK school board has not discussed winter sports yet and she had not had a chance to see the Health Department’s recommendation yet. A KCK district spokesman could not be reached.
The Piper school district could not be reached.
Students lobby for sports
Earlier this year, students in Wyandotte County held a rally and protest against the ban on fall sports. Students have started a petition stating they want to play sports, with more than 150 signatures.
Several students in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools sent messages and letters to the KCK school board that were read at the Oct. 27 school board meeting, and were published in the KCK board agenda.
Several of the messages were the same sentence: “We want to play!”
Anderson Jones wrote, “We want to play!!! Please give everybody our respectable seasons so we can make it out and be the future!!!”
Randall Johnson wrote, “I’m a student at Wyandotte high school that plays football and I seen a post from someone I know from Washington would you mind looking at these stats to determine if we can play sports again mind you Johnson county has more cases than us now keep that in mind would you thank you.”
Michael Reed wrote, “We want to play! We’ve fought long and hard to keep cautions while playing the sport we love, we deserve this. Sincerely, a player from Harmon High School in KCK.”
Kyren Angelo wrote, “My name is Kyren Angelo I am a senior at Washington high school, and I took it upon myself to start a petition about sports same as the surrounding school districts who are playing sports right now. So far every we have 164 responses from athletes and parents all saying “yes” they would like sports to start again in USD500 if this petition could be showed at the board meeting tomorrow it would be greatly appreciated! You know from experience you only get one senior year please help us live our full high school experience ! For me basketball is all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life and as of right now I have no college scholarships offers but I know for a fact if we get the chance to play this season I’ll be playing at the next level ! That’s just not for me these sports are outlets for some of us, some kids have trouble at home so they use sports as their source of happiness. Some kids are also wanting to make a career in their sport to provide for their families ! We promise follow all protocols and policies for Covid-19 to keep everyone safe same as we did at the football workouts we have over the course of the summer at Washington high school and ended with ZERO CASES ! Please don’t let fear affect you all’s judgment for our last chance to do what we love with our life ! PLEASE ! I plan to keep the petition active to show our efforts and how much this means to us…
Sincerely
A kid who wants a fair chance”
To see a previous story on the Health Department’s recommendations on winter sports, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/changes-coming-for-wyandotte-county-schools-and-covid-19-rules/.
The letter to the school districts is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/wintersportsrecommendationletter.pdf.
More information about the Health Department’s recommendations for winter sports is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10302020-ugphdwintersportsguidancenr.pdf.