Rensselaer, N.Y. (NEWS10) With some local counties giving the go ahead for high-risk sports to resume, there are some parents wondering why their children can’t return to full time in-person learning.
Rensselaer County is one of the first in the Capital Region to allow for high risk sports to resume, but the move is now raising questions among parents who are curious as to why their children can’t return to the classroom if students can play sports in close contact.
Superintendent of the Rensselaer City School District, Joseph Kardash, told News10 it comes down to logistics rather than priorities. “If we had a choice, can we bring all of our kids back or offer sports, we would bring all of our kids back, but that’s not the choice that’s laid out in front of us. The choice is how many kids can we bring back and can we or can’t we offer the other opportunity to athletes. Those things we can do. Kids have had so many opportunities taken away from them through this pandemic, anything we can offer them, if we think we can do it safely we want to,” said Kardash.
So far, the Rensselaer City School District has been able to bring back first grade full time and they’re working on second and third as Kardash said those are the foundational grades for reading. However, they must still follow CDC guidelines, maintaining six feet in the classroom and Kardash said eventually they will run into staffing and spacing issues.
Superintendent of the Mohonasen Central School District, Shannon Shine, said he is facing the same obstacles. “The basic fact of the matter is none of those things are local school district decisions. At this point, we are waiting on permission from the Governor and the New York State Department of Health to shift on the regulations. I’m also interested if we’re allowed to have high-risk sports, what about the protocols in place for the arts, music, drama and physical education? So I would like those to have the same standards as high risk sports,” said Shine.
Superintendent of Ballston Spa Central School District, Ken Slentz, said their Board of Education approved basketball, hockey, and competitive cheer all of which began last week. “Tonight (Wednesday) we are recommending wrestling and also volleyball and football for the “Fall 2” sport season,” said Slentz.
“For those sports that the board has already approved, they will follow the sport specific plan that has been approved by our district medical director which includes wearing of masks at all times. Practices have tight restrictions on them, but games and competitions will look very similar to a typical season,” said Slentz.
Parents in the Ballston Spa Central School District have the option for remote or in-person learning and 75% have chosen in-person. “Students are in school each day Monday through Thursday and we are now looking at options for expanding in-person learning time. We are currently working on the K- 5 model for additional in-person learning, in-person clubs and activities for middle and high school students, and obviously approving various sports,” said Slentz.
Slentz said while the State Department of Health has approved the various sports, they’ve also acknowledged that they are higher risk relative to the potential for disease transmission. “The state also directed that county departments of health must approve sports to move forward. District medical directors had to sign off on our sport-specific plans. In sum, then, three levels of medical and health experts have agreed to allow these plans to go forward,” said Slentz.
Albany County Health Commissioner, Doctor Elizabeth Whalen, said the isolation has been tough on children and told News10 that getting back into a classroom environment is the best thing for them right now. “As numbers go down we have more encouragement. There’s also encouragement that we’ve been able to vaccinate more teachers so there’s a level of comfort that the teachers have going back into the classroom. This is an ongoing effort going forward. So I think it is something I would certainly advocate for as a parent and as a public health physician knowing the importance of this in person learning for kids,” said Dr. Whalen.
