A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SCHOOLS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022
Pausing sports is just a recommendation
Local schools holding
with COVID-19
precautions
By ANNIE FOWLER
Hermiston Herald
Student-athletes have
been through a lot the past
two years because of the
COVID-19 pandemic —
from sports being shelved
to seasons being altered.
Things
might
take
another turn for the worse
as the Oregon Department
of Education suggested
during its meeting Mon-
day, Jan. 3, that schools
and other organizations
should pause extracurricu-
lar activities or ensure they
have the same layered mit-
igation eff orts as during the
school day.
The recommendations
are advisory only, but the
ODE said schools that pro-
ceed with extracurricu-
lar activities, especially
if students don’t wear
masks, should expect rapid
COVID-19 transmission.
ODE also said the risk
should be clearly explained
to families.
“That is a last resort,”
Oregon School Activi-
ties Association Executive
Director Pete Weber said
of pausing extracurricular
activities. “The ultimate
goal is to keep schools in
in-person schooling. We
believe it’s critical for
them to be able to do their
activities.”
The Oregon Health
Authority
and
ODE
strongly suggest schools
strengthen their safety pro-
tocols with indoor mask-
ing, encourage vaccina-
tions, recommend frequent
hand washing and sanitiz-
ing and limiting spectators.
COVID-19 cases are up
140% in Oregon, and the
Oregon Health Authority
on Jan. 6 reported Umatilla
County had 306 cases —
the highest one-day count
since numbers have been
tracked.
At the present time, the
OSAA does not require
COVID-19 testing of stu-
dent-athletes, and Weber
said local school districts
have been given the green
light to make decisions
that they believe work
best for their schools and
communities.
“They have local con-
trol as to what they believe
makes sense for them and
their communities,” Weber
said. “At this point, I think
everyone is waiting to see
what the surge looks like. I
was at a conference in Cali-
fornia, meeting with people
from all 50 states. Some
have reached the peaks of
their surge and it’s on the
way out.”
In Eastern Oregon, con-
ferences are staying with
their current mandates.
Intermountain Conference
athletic directors.discussed
the matter during a meeting
Jan. 7.
“We just talked about
what each school is doing,”
Pendleton Athletic Direc-
tor Mike Somnis said. We
are staying with what we
have been doing. We are
asking fans to wear a mask
while attending games,
we make masks available,
and make announcements
during games. We are not
talking about pausing any-
thing. We are doing a good
job within our own confer-
ence and we are staying the
course.”
Heppner AD
Greg
Grant said the Blue Moun-
tain Conference, which
also includes Pilot Rock,
Stanfi eld and Weston-
McEwen, is following the
mandates set forth by the
OHA to provide the safest
possible environment for
student-athletes.
“That has not changed
and will not change,” Grant
said. “We are sick of read-
ing about this. We want
to read stories about real
people. Part of my meet-
ing today (in Portland), the
report from the sports med-
icine and aspects commit-
tee was how much time
they have been spending
with student-athletes and
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Players on the Stanfi eld bench cheer on their team during the
second half of the game Dec. 15, 2021, against the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles at the Nixyaawii Community School in Mission.
mental health. The psycho-
logical aspects of school
and athletics being a yo-yo.
In-person education and
athletics are a vital part of
maintaining good mental
health in our students. We
are dedicated to making
that happen.”
Hermiston High School,
which plays in the Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference in
Washington, follows guide-
lines set forth by the Wash-
ington State Department of
Health and the Washington
Interscholastic Activities
Association, which govern
high school athletics and
activities.
Hermiston
Athletic
Director Larry Usher said
a majority of the athletes
at the school have been
vaccinated, and the school
strictly follows the WIAA
guidelines, which include
COVID-19 testing athletes
three times per week, with
one test being conducted
at least 24 hours before
a contest, and whenever
possible, the day of the
event.
“At this time, it’s very
important that kids stay
connected to our schools
and programs,” Usher said.
“We will continue our cur-
rent health and safety pro-
tocols and move forward as
we are.”
While Eastern Oregon
schools are moving for-
ward, the Portland Public
Schools are tightening reg-
ulations, requiring athletes
to wear masks at all times
during sports competitions
and practices.
The district also is end-
ing overnight travel for
extracurricular activities,
shutting down concessions,
and will require proof of
vaccination or a negative
COVID-19 test within 72
hours for anyone over the
age of 5 attending an after-
school event.
The rules will be in
place until at least Feb. 4.
Other school districts,
mainly in the Portland
area, have taken some of
the same measures.
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