HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
While Kentucky High School Athletic Association commissioner Julian Tackett addressed Kentucky’s interim Joint Commission on Education on Tuesday with a statement that “they are still planning for fall sports”, not much guidance or clarity was provided beyond that.
The guidance and clarity should come Friday when the KHSAA Board of Control meets to announce guidance for the remainder of July and possibly beyond for high school sports in the state for the 2020-21 school year.
Tackett spoke on topics such as the value of sports in high school and the community, local school board control on athletics vs state control, out-of-state opponents on KHSAA members schedules and contact vs non-contact sports.
At the moment, KHSAA schools are in Phase Two of the guidelines for schools to return to participation in sports.
Tackett continued with webcasts throughout the day, meeting with Kentucky Department of Education Superintendents later in the day. In that webcast, Tackett reiterated the planning all six fall sports as of now with guidance coming Friday likely to cover the next couple of weeks (meaning it might not address start of season).
The commissioner also clarified that students who are distance learning would still be able to participate in sports if the KHSAA moves forward with sports. However, individual districts could rule that out. The point is, the KHSAA is going to leave that as a local decision at a lot of decisions regarding athletics.
Some school districts have had to shut down workouts since they began June 15 due to a positive COVID-19 test. Russell Independent schools being one of them.
