Let Them Play rally for high school sports – August 28, 2020
Posted on 09/02/2020 5:46:01 PM PDT by lightman
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives wants to guarantee school boards that they hold the power to decide whether to allow sports and extracurricular activities to occur this school year and whether spectators can attend.
The House on Wednesday passed House Bill 2787 , sponsored by Rep. Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland County, by a bipartisan 155-47 vote that would school boards with the assurance that they have that authority, not the governor.
A separate school-related bill, House Bill 2788, sponsored by Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford County, passed by a 197-5 vote that would allow parents to request their public or private school student repeat a grade if they felt there was educational loss last year or this year due to the interruptions in in-person learning prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both bills now go to the Senate for consideration.
Gov. Tom Wolf last month recommended there should be no sports in Pennsylvania for the remainder of the year. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine elaborated on the governor’s position, saying Wolf has no plans to issue a mandate to halt sports but that his recommendation is intended to “give kids the best chance to stay healthy, and counties and kids the best chance to actually have a full in-person education.”
Reese said he understands the governor recommended – not ordered – that there should be no fall sports season but “it certainly scared every one of our school districts.”
As evidence, a number of school districts, including Harrisburg, have decided to cancel their fall sport season. Still, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association voted on Aug. 21 to allow fall sports to be held despite the governor’s recommendation.
Reese said school activities work hand in hand with education and studies have shown that students who participate in school activities are better motivated in the classroom.
“They are absolutely an integral part of our public education system,” Reese said. “When students are denied the avenues to interact with their peers, with positive role models in a meaningful way, there’s a very negative impact. We see increases in depression. We see increases in drug use, overdoses and unfortunately, we see increases in suicides and attempted suicides.”
He said the risk of not allowing these activities to occur poses a greater risk than if they are allowed. Besides that, he said the decision as to whether a student participates rests with their family and the decision to offer these activities, as well as allowing spectators to attend them, should be left up to the school board.
Rep. Joseph Hohenstein, D-Philadelphia, who succeeded on Tuesday in amending the bill to bar anyone with COVID-19 in a transmissible stage from participating in sports or extracurricular activities, argued it still doesn’t go far enough to protect the health and safety of the community.
“We are not going to get to control [of the coronavirus] until we actually have a vaccine and until then, we have to control ourselves,” he said.
Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon County, responded to that argument, saying it could be a long time before a vaccine becomes available. “I think it’s important that we allow our children to have some type of normalcy and responsibly manage the risk in participating in these athletic activities,” he said.
On Wednesday, Wolf issued a new order that updates the rules on spectators attending an indoor and outdoor K-12 sporting event. It limits indoor games to 25 and outdoor contests are capped at 250. Further, it says the facility as a whole may not exceed 50 percent of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law.
But during the debate on Reese’s bill, Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana County, said he appreciates that change from not allowing any spectators to allowing some but it still is not enough. Further, he said it should be a decision that is left up to school boards.
As for the bill that allows students to repeat a grade at the parents’ request, state Department of Education spokesman Eric Levis said the bill does little to change the current practice.
“Parents can always request that their child be held back and repeat a grade. Districts have policies on this,” he said.
During the House debate, Democratic members raised concerns about the impact this could have next year if a large number of parents decide to have their children repeat a grade. They encouraged the General Assembly to provide more funding to districts to help cover that cost should this bill become law and have that effect.
A change made to the bill on Tuesday clarifies that students who repeat a grade would not be allowed to gain an extra year of eligibility to play interscholastic sports due to PIAA age restrictions.
Another change that was made, offered by Rep. Dan Miller, D-Allegheny County, grants permission for a student with a disability who was previously enrolled in a school entity during the 2019-20 school year and was 2l years old on or after the issuance of the governor’s disaster emergency order to remain in school through 2020-21.
Let Them Play rally for high school sports – August 28, 2020
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