Christian County Public Schools have announced that, due to COVID-19 exposure concerns, all extracurricular and after-school activities and most sports will be suspended through Nov. 20, district spokesman John Rittenhouse said in a news release.
CCPS Superintendent Chris Bentzel told Hoptown Chronicle on Wednesday that the decision was made because the vast majority of the district’s active quarantines and positive COVID-19 cases originated from athletic activities. As of Wednesday, the district 192 students in quarantine and 24 students with active cases of coronavirus.
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Last week, 96 students were required to quarantine after a player in the Hopkinsville-Christian County middle school football game on Oct. 24 tested positive for the virus. Bentzel added that within the last two days, 30 more student athletes were placed on quarantine after a Christian County Middle girls basketball player tested positive, as well as a few others from isolated athletics-related related exposure.
Christian County Public Schools, as well as local private schools, have opted to continue in-person instruction and athletics this fall, despite guidance from the state to suspend both when a county is in the red zone, or has 25 or more average daily cases per 100,000 residents. It’s a threshold Christian County has exceeded for more than a month.
Since classes resumed in early September, CCPS has had to place eight of its sports teams under quarantine: Hopkinsville High School’s girls’ soccer team, football team and cheerleading squad, Christian County High School’s football team and JV volleyball team Christian County Middle’s football team and girls’ basketball team and Hopkinsville Middle’s football team.
Football programs allowed to finish season
Football, which is the only athletic program actively competing, will be given the opportunity to finish out the season, Bentzel told Hoptown Chronicle.
With just one week left in the regular season, both high schools’ head coaches have agreed to comply with returning to the “stringent COVID practice schedule.” That means no face to face contact within six feet, being spread out, no contact during practice and “being extra vigilant so that these young men can finish their season in the post-season,” Bentzel said.
The post-season begins on Nov. 13.
“Hopefully, they can make a good run. If not, they’ll have that one game in the post-season to play,” Bentzel said.
Christian County, whose Colonels are ranked 25th among the state’s Class 5A football teams, was originally slotted to play Caldwell County on Nov. 6, but that game has been canceled. The 10th ranked Class 4A Hoptown Tigers have a bye week going into the post-season.
Christian County public schools to re-evaluate resuming sports, extracurriculars on Nov. 18
With the exception of football, all of the district’s athletic programs and extracurricular activities (like marching band, after-school activities, tutoring and school trips) will be suspended until Nov. 20. School officials plan to reassess the situation on Nov. 18.
“We recognize our community is in the red. We’re doing our best to support that process, but we also understand our ‘why’ of staying in school and valuing in-person,'” Bentzel said. “If we have to halt or postpone extracurricular activities for two weeks in an attempt to lower our numbers, lower the community incidence rate, lower the quarantines, get our kids back to school, that’s what we’re willing to do.
Millbrooke’s return to classes ‘too early to tell’
Bentzel said it was too early to tell if Millbrooke Elementary, which shifted to virtual learning last week after an outbreak at the school, would resume in-person classes on Nov. 9 as scheduled.
“That’s the goal, but it changes daily,” he said, adding the district plans to make its assessment and decision regarding the elementary school Friday.
Initially, the plan was to return Tuesday, but district Bentzel announced on Monday that students would continue learning from home until at least Nov. 9 after an increase in the number of cases that were seen in the days following last week’s shift to virtual learning.
Julia Hunter is the engagement editor for Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at julia@hoptownchronicle.org.
