In January, Gov. Cuomo announced that effective February 1, schools may allow students to participate in high-risk sports if they meet certain COVID-related criteria. In response to this announcement, all of the school districts in Herkimer County met to discuss how this could happen in a safe and consistent way that would not interrupt the in-person learning they have worked to offer since September.
The Districts agreed, and Public Health approved, that they could protect in-person learning and offer higher-risk sports if the following conditions were met in Herkimer County:
- Herkimer County's positivity rate drops below 3 percent and remains below 3 percent over a 14-day rolling average.
- If the rate rises above 3.5 percent on a 14-day rolling average, sports would be paused.
- Each district will develop a sports-specific safety plan that will outline how the high-risk sports will operate during the pandemic.
This was a joint decision between the school districts and Public Health. The parties agreed it balanced the opportunity to offer student-athletes the ability to play high-risk sports during the pandemic while minimizing the chances of shutting down in-person learning for all students in the districts.
Athletic Directors in each district are working from a common template to develop safety plans for each high-risk sport . Their respective boards of education will approve the plans and send them to Public Health for review.