With the start of the school year pushed back for all Platte County schools there are still many issues with fall activities still up in the air including games that are scheduled before the start of school.
Most schools were still planning on starting the sports’ seasons with the same schedules which includes the start of football next Friday, Aug. 28. The county’s smallest district, North Platte, was waiting on the Platte County Health Department to meet on Tuesday night, Aug. 18, before moving forward. Superintendent Karl Matt told The Platte County Citizen they’re in limbo.
“We don’t know 100 percent if we’re going to be playing week one or not,” Matt said. “Right now we’re playing; we’re practicing and preparing for the first game.”
North Platte and other schools officially started their fall practices last week. After a few days of practice the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) released guidelines that would allow schools to opt out of the traditional fall seasons and play a schedule in the spring. The sports that could opt out are football, soccer and volleyball.
Platte County’s largest district, Park Hill, also is pressing forward with the athletic schedule according to both schools’ athletic directors.
Superintendent Dr. Jeanette Cowherd told her board members during a meeting last Thursday, Aug. 13, some health officials have said starting on time wouldn’t be the best idea.
“There are some optics with that I think are unusual,” Cowherd said. “There’s a lot of emotion around this as you can imagine.”
Cowherd said MSHSAA isn’t going to cancel the season because of the unique dynamics the organization is facing combined with the canceling of spring sports this year.
Cowherd said there are a lot of differences in the challenges the Park Hill School District faces as opposed to rural districts like North Platte. Cowherd said many of those rural communities didn’t have a lot of COVID-19 cases and had to cancel their seasons anyway.
“The hope for all of us is we’re on the right side of history on the end of this,” Cowherd said. “I think there are some challenges that we don’t know about physically.
“I think everyone is just trying to respond,” Cowherd later added. “Everything is on the table.”
Matt said he’s anxious to see what the Platte County Health Department has for recommendations and if his district will have to follow them. Matt is also interested in what’s called “gating” criteria to be released that could give all school districts some direction.
The gating criteria is being worked on by area health departments, Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Mid America Regional Council (MARC). Matt said there’s supposed to also be a component in the criteria for sports.
Matt is also looking for some direction in terms of what his district will be allowed to do when school opens on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Like Park Hill the North Platte District has a virtual learning and hybrid plan if all in-person learning is not allowed.
“Our stance is we’re going to go five days a week in-person unless we’re told we can’t,” Matt said. “I feel like we’re prepared for any contingency. I think we can do all three, it’s just a matter of we’ve got to know here pretty soon.”
Neighboring Clay County’s health department has already recommended that all contact sports be moved to the spring. Platte County’s health department has not gone that far yet.
Cowherd has been talking about using gating criteria for weeks and even brought up the issue with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
The district is part of the overall Kansas City metro area in Cowherd’s view and the main reason she is pushing for the gated criteria.
“We want to look at our little world here that is Park Hill but unfortunately that is not our world,” Cowherd said.
According to data provided by Cowherd more than 30 percent of the district’s staff lives outside the district. Cowherd said many families work outside of the district.
“We don’t want to have one set of criteria for one district and a different set of criteria for another school district. We’re trying to get everyone to play together.”
Cowherd said the opinions across the spectrum are wide when looking the metro area and getting everyone on board will be a challenge.
“We can make a decision either way and we’re not going to make people happy,” Cowherd said.
Cowherd said there is also a lot of other issues with moving forward that have not been considered, such as the effects on a student athlete if they test positive for COVID-19 and jeopardize the season for the team.
“I think it’s going to be hard on students,” Cowherd said. “Nobody wants to be the one who caused their team to quarantine for 14 days. It puts them in a bad position.”
Park Hill board member Scott Monsees said any number of diseases like tuberculosis could shut down a season.
“If all things can happen, I want them to happen,” Monsees said.
Cowherd said it’s not a matter if she or anyone else wants things to happen. She said the number one priority of the district is academics but she also knows how important those activities are to students.
“I want them to play,” Cowherd said. “I watch them practice right outside my window; I want them to play. I just want them to do it safely.”
Matt said no matter what happens he appreciates the Platte County Health Department. He said a lot of people have been put into tough spots.
“I know they have a lot of people complaining about them or to them but they’ve been good to work with and they’ve always answered questions,” Matt said. “They’re going through it for the first time in their lifetimes. We’ll keep working with them.”