Student-athletes at Unionville High and CF Patton Middle schools must wear masks while participating in their sports this spring, even tennis players and those involved in track & field.
That's the word from Patrick Crater, the district's supervisor of athletics, who briefed Unionville Chadds Ford School Board Directors on the Spring Sports Health & Safety plan during the board's Feb. 8 work session
Crater said that while school sports have been ongoing since August, "there have been zero linked transmissions [of the COVID-19 virus], so we're feeling good about that. We're heading into the spring with a lot of optimism, but we also recognize we're still in a pandemic."
He told directors that there might be a delayed start for middle school student sports teams at Patton and that both middle and high school athletes will play a local, league-only schedule.
There's an attempt to coordinate a plan with other Chester County middle schools to give everyone a chance for a full season, but that each district has its own oversight procedure. Because of a timing difference when other middle schools might be ready, those athletics could be delayed until later in the spring with practices and tryouts beginning after the spring break and with games starting in May, Crater said.
The plan also calls for the same protocols the district has been using for the past eight months. Athletes to wear masks for all sports — baseball, softball, track & field, boys tennis, boys volleyball, rowing, boys and girls lacrosse, and during offseason workouts.
Crater said the Pennsylvania Department of Health requires all athletes, coaches, and spectators to wear masks if they can't maintain social distancing from people outside their homes. Masks are needed even while the athletes are engaged in competition, but people can remove the face coverings if they maintain a six-foot distance during outdoor events.
The board will vote on the plan during its regular meeting on Feb. 22.
Other business
Directors voted to approve a preliminary budget of $92,687,589 for the next academic year. There is also an unreserved balance of $8,953,007 available for appropriation. A final budget — including the levying of taxes — is scheduled for a vote on June 21. Before that vote, the board will adopt a proposed final budget and conduct hearings on the 2021-2022 spending plan if necessary.
The preliminary budget doesn't include finalized millage rates, district Business Manager Bob Cochran said the maximum allowable is 29.96 mils for Chester County property owners and 15.47 mils in Chadds Ford, Delaware County.
"That's a significant millage decrease in Delaware County, but that's a result of the county-wide reassessment that took place," Cochran said.
He said both millage rate percentages are the maximum allowed by the state's Act 1 index. If rates exceeded that index, the district would need voters to approve a referendum in the spring primary election.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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