Middletown City Schools spokeswoman Elizabeth Beadle said the district canceled the junior varsity game scheduled for today and the varsity game against Hamilton on Friday.
The district said Monday that when making these decisions, it follows the guidelines from the city health department and the Ohio High School Athletic Association. In addition, all athletic facilities used by the football program received enhanced cleaning and disinfecting, following district protocols.
Beadle said a junior varsity player tested positive last week, and a football coach tested positive this week. Letters to football families of students exposed and urged that they get tested.
“A total of 67 JV and varsity football players and 14 coaches have been quarantined for two weeks following contact tracing,” Beadle said. “The football staff member spent an extensive amount of time with the players.”
Beadle said she was not sure if the coach had symptoms, but that he was tested and made notifications to the athletic director and city Health Department.
“He followed the proper protocols,” she said.
She said if a similar situation happened on a school bus, the cafeteria, or in a classroom, the district would take similar action and require those individuals to be quarantined for two weeks.
Principal Carmella Cotter said the Middletown/Hamilton rivalry is special, and the students were disappointed about the season ending like this.
“Our students are disappointed but they understand these are precarious times,” Cotter said. “They appreciate being able to play and they understand it’s not about them.”
After initially calling off sports and extracurricular activities in the summer, Middletown started its football season on Sept. 4. After a shortened season, the Middies lost in the first round of the playoffs but were allowed to play additional regular-season games. The Middies finished the season 1-6 and most recently losing its homecoming game to Oak Hills, 29-20, on Friday .
Other school districts keeping tabs, maintaining vigilance
Hamilton City Schools has been working closely with the Hamilton Health Department, according to Joni Copas, school district spokeswoman.
“Since March, we’ve had plans, then they change,” she said. “We have to be on our toes all the time.”
Athletes have used cell phones to record their temperatures and fill out a form before practices and games.
The district also has assigned seating in classrooms to assist with contact tracing if necessary. If someone tested positive or was exposed to COVID-19, they would be subject to quarantine, she said.
“It’s a process and it can be time-consuming,” Copas said. “Plans change as new situations arise. But we want our kids in school.”
At Lakota Local Schools, administrators and nurses are monitoring students and staff to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, said Betsy Fuller, district spokeswoman. She said the number of positive cases and those quarantined are updated every Monday on the district’s dashboard.
“We have protocols and guidelines in place to help prevent the spread of the virus in our classrooms,” Fuller said. “We were one of the first districts in the area to require face coverings for all students and staff in grades K-12. Our secondary students are on block schedules to help decrease the number of class transitions during the day.”
She said teachers are sanitizing desks and touch points after every class and that all safety precautions are working.
“We are now in week 10 of in-person learning and while we have seen positive cases, they can be traced back to contact outside of school – not in our classrooms, buses and activities,” Fuller said.
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