Valley Grove School Board members voted unanimously Monday to allow spectators at home sporting events.
Superintendent Kevin Briggs said student athletes will be given “up to four potential tickets for students to give to their family.”
Those tickets will allow each student’s guests to attend home games, Briggs said.
He said outdoor events don’t have the same social distancing issues as indoor events where attendance will be limited to under 30% of the gym’s total capacity.
Briggs said the district will block off half the school’s gym to “keep all the student athletes on one side of the gym and keep spectators on the other side.”
Spectators will need to sign a waiver prior to entering their first attended event, Briggs said.
“This is an extra layer of protection for the district,” Briggs said.
Outdoor games will continue to be open to spectators as long as the total number of spectators remains below 250, according to the state’s updated athletics health and safety plan.
Briggs said the district will still host a cross country invitational at Two Mile Run County Park, although the event will be much smaller than in other years and will only feature five local varsity teams.
If COVID-19 transmission rates as reported by the state Department of Health go up, Briggs said the district would put a pause to or stop allowing spectators at events.
“I think that is a reasonable first step,” Briggs said.
“The phased reopening really could not have gone any better,” Rocky Grove High School principal Kelly Hart said. “We’re settling in really nice this week with 100% of our students in the building.”
“Everything went really well, it was nice to see classes full of kids again…it was great actually,” Valley Grove Elementary School principal Jacob Saullo said.
“Overall I think our return to school has been super well and positive,” Briggs said.
School board members Todd Wetjen, Deb Brink and Brandon Winger were absent from Monday’s meeting.
