September 8, 2020: "The challenge has been to balance the safety and health of the Laker Community and adhering to the social, emotional and physical needs of students." LMC MSHS Principal James White

Thank you to everyone who attended the town hall, provided input, sent emails, made phone calls, etc.  We heard you; we appreciate your input; we know this is a very challenging time and this is a very difficult topic.

Our goal at LMC remains unchanged and that is to make the best decisions to protect the health and safety of our entire Laker community. These are not easy decisions and not made without careful consideration for all impacted.

As a recap, we made the decision to halt fall athletics on August 10th, based on the most current community infection data and upon the recommendation of multiple physicians. It was the right decision at that moment in time.

As we progress through this pandemic, what we have all learned is that change happens on a daily basis...from the state guidance, to MHSAA decisions, community status, learning from the first weeks of school, etc.  We are learning more every day in order to make informed decisions.

We recognize there are many factors to consider including physical, mental and emotional health. 

The RTS team including our physicians discussed fall athletics at length following last night’s town hall and has made the following recommendation, taking into account your input:

• Elementary-no team sports practice or play while in Phase 4. 
• MS Cross Country may practice with the team, no competition.
• Soccer - maintain current position of no participation (contact sport)
• Football - maintain current position of no participation (contact sport)

We will implement the following pilots for the lowest risk sports:

• High School Girls Volleyball - we will transition to practice ONLY (involves 15 students) Practices in LMC Gym. (TBA)
• Tennis - competitive (involves 3 students)
• Cross Country (involves High School ONLY-7) Middle School students may attend practices ONLY.

Total: 10 HS students participating in low-risk high school athletics.

Rationale: 

• Tennis and XC are lower risk sports in terms of Covid-transmission.  
• Mental and emotional health (balancing that with physical health)
• Better to have kids following our protocols than going off on their own
• Very limited pilot seasons: Cross Country final BCS Competition Oct 13, Boys Tennis Oct 1.
• Low number of participants: Tennis (3), Cross Country (7); six meets and done in early October
• Parent transportation and supervision 
• Strict protocols: 
  • Cross Country Protocols 
  • Tennis Protocols

Requirements:

• Physicals and questionnaires: Must be turned in prior to any practice and/or competition 
• Waivers & acknowledgments of protocols 
• All protocols MUST be followed or we will need to revert back to no athletics
• As we stated, we will need parent volunteers to assist with the enforcement of protocols

In total, the pilots will involve approximately 10 students which represent 4% of our middle and high school population.

• Data that will be closely monitored:  community infection rates/trends, internal COVID cases, protocols of participating schools.
• We will also require that AEDs be onsite for all athletic events (practices and competition) due to elevated heart and respiratory risks. 

Next Steps:

• Will begin the process of evaluating the possibility of winter sports in November following the same rigor as we have for fall sports
• Explore other long term solutions to address concerns for our students’ overall wellbeing for the future (ie. yoga, meditation, healthy eating/nutrition experiential learning, etc.)

Closing...It’s extremely important that protocols that we are following during the school day are consistently followed before and after school. When parents allow their children to go off the grid outside of school, it completely defeats the intent of our LMC bubble approach and puts all Lakers at greater risk.  We all must take ownership of doing the right thing for all within our community.

We will not compromise on health and safety for our school and recognize not everyone will agree with all decisions made. 

We will not be opening this townhall up for further comments on fall sports.  However, we do invite your feedback, as we have done continually throughout this entire process, on how we can serve our Laker community in the best possible way. (Contact: Neil Carter, AD).