The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) recently passed summer guidelines for COVID 2020 that schools are to follow with their coaches, student-athletes and school teams. These guidelines are a framework of conditions that school summer activities taking place in a school facility and/or under the guidance of a school employee must adhere to with the understanding that each district will make the necessary additions to the guidelines to help manage and promote the health and safety of their students and community.
The goals of USD327 for summer activities is to keep our focus on the health and safety of others, limit the risks of COVID-19, and protect future opportunities for our students. Our Board of Education passed the following additions to the KSHSAA summer guidelines:
- Locally, we must be in Phase 3, "Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas"' before summer conditioning and school athletic programs can begin & continue. Mass gatherings of no more than 90 individuals allowed and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance between individuals and groups.
- No travel for school teams to outside competition in the summer: no summer league participation and will not organize bringing in outside competition to the community.
- Facilities & equipment must be sanitized at the end of group activities.
- Honest Communication is a must. We must try and stay informed on where our coaches & students might be traveling outside our community. We must follow KDHE travel & quarantine guidelines for travel to high-risk hot spots within Kansas and when traveling beyond state lines. For example, if an individual chooses to travel and is in contact with a current hot spot, they must self-quarantine 14 days before being allowed to participate in school athletic programs & facilities.
Again, KSHSAA states that summer activities that are led by schools will begin: when permitted by your community's local health authorities and your school district, while following all group gathering restrictions and social distancing expectations, school employed coaches may begin their summer programs with their prospective student participants no earlier than June 1. As always, participation by a student in a summer program is voluntary.
USD327 will send out notifications when our summer activity programs will begin.
KSHSAA Summer Guidelines https://5il.co/g2qj
Stay Healthy Bearcats!