Christian County’s three private schools are going ahead with their athletic games, as is the public school system, despite guidance from the local health department to suspend extracurricular activities and sports until Oct. 2, in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Representatives of University Heights Academy, Heritage Christian Academy and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School all expressed support for the health department’s efforts to curb COVID-19, but they did not seem to connect that support with following the new guidance issued Wednesday.
County Health Director Kayla Bebout, citing the critical level of coronavirus spread in the community, outlined several requests to curtail social gatherings, community events and sports.
On the day Bebout issued the department’s guidance, the county’s incidence rate was 26.4. Anything above 25 is in the state’s “critical” red zone, which means there is substantial community transmission. At that level, the Kentucky Department of Education and the Department of Public Health want schools to switch to remote instruction only. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association has also said school athletics should be suspended when the incidence rate reaches 25.
The incidence rate is the county’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases adjusted for a population of 100,000.
On Friday, the health department reported 29 new cases and two deaths. The incidence rate was 24.9. Christian County is among nine in Kentucky with the highest incidence rates, according to the state’s daily update.
Still, the state’s color-coded grid on incidence rates and the local health department’s warnings have not persuaded local schools to temporarily curtail sports.
UHA Head of School Beth Unfried said Friday the school’s board of trustees met and discussed how to proceed.
“Currently, we are continuing to provide in-person instruction and sporting activities,” she told Hoptown Chronicle in an email. “However, we are evaluating our academic and athletic situation daily. As situations arise, we cooperate with our local health department and follow their recommendations.”
Unfried said the school “is following all safety expectations according to the Healthy At School guidance” from the state.
However, UHA, Heritage Christian Academy and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School did not follow the recommendations that came from the local health department Wednesday as the agency sought to get ahead of the community spread.
Heritage Christian Academy athletic director Candy Hayes said HCA is also continuing sports.
Saints Peter and Paul offers only cross-country track in the fall for its elementary and middle school students, and there are no changes in extracurricular activities, said Principal Stephanie Blankenberger.
“We are cooperating with the local health department and following all Healthy at School Guidance, including school-wide masking and social distancing,” Blankenberger said.
Most of the compliance with the health department’s new guidance came from city agencies. Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation Director Tab Brockman announced the department would follow the recommendations from Bebout, while officials at city hall said they were returning to virtual online meetings of the council and Committee of the Whole starting with the next meetings in October.
The YMCA also elected to follow the guidance by postponing youth soccer and flag football programs.
Bebout said Friday the health department is waiting on state guidance to decide how to address activities that could increase the county’s COVID-19 spread.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
