O'Fallon won't 'move forward' with basketball season, wants clear state COVID guidance

Nov. 6--O'Fallon Township High School announced Thursday night that it would not move forward with boys or girls basketball, citing conflicting state guidance about the safety of the sport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Belleville Township High School Superintendent Brian Mentzer said Friday that if a consensus isn't reached, that it would not be in his district's best interest to move ahead.

"If they don't come to a consensus, what we're leaning on is that the risks appear to be too great to try it, at this point," he said.

While the Illinois High School Association has said boys and girls basketball can start in November, Gov. J. B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health have warned against that, saying schools that disregard IDPH guidance could face consequences.

O'Fallon High School is in the Southwestern Conference.

After other districts in the conference met Friday, their joint press statement stopped just short of O'Fallon's -- while echoing the "unfortunate position" school districts have been put in by the "contradictory" guidance, they instead called for the governing agencies to create a safety plan that can be developed to allow students to participate this year.

The statement does not explicitly say what the rest of the conference will do if a consensus isn't reached, even while leaning heavily on the extreme level of liability they'd be undertaking if they proceed without a consensus.

The high schools in the conference are Alton, Belleville East, Belleville West, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Edwardsville and O'Fallon.

Meanwhile, a letter signed by over 200 Illinois superintendents overseeing more than 200,000 K-12 students called for Pritzker to allow students to participate in extracurricular activities and interscholastic competition.

The superintendents of Alton, Collinsville, Edwardsville and O'Fallon all signed the letter.

"While each scenario is different, schools have shown that we are adaptable, vigilant and accountable while keeping the health, safety, and well-being of our students as the highest priority," the letter reads. "It is time to allow superintendents, athletic directors and coaches the opportunity to partner with IDPH to provide interscholastic competition in a safe environment."

O'Fallon Superintendent Darcy Benway said that legal counsel advised that defying the Illinois Department of Public Health and the governor's office could result in the district waiving its tort immunity. She said they were advised that disregarding a public health order could be considered "willful and wanton" conduct by the school.

Benway, one of the superintendents that signed the letter to Pritzker, reiterated the district's desire for their athletes to compete this year, and said they were hopeful that IHSA, ISBE, IDPH and the governor's office can reach a consensus on a safety plan that would allow competition.

High school sports can make a student's high school experience, Mentzer said, and he's worried about students who won't be able to compete, either in the winter or spring.

Pritzker and IDPH divided sports into low-, medium and high-risk categories. Basketball was originally classified as a medium-risk activity in the fall sports guidelines over the summer, but was reclassified for the winter to a high-risk sport. IHSA, in turn, classified basketball as a medium-risk sport.

The governor later said basketball would be moved to the spring season, while IHSA maintained that the season would start Nov. 16.

"These agencies have placed school districts in a difficult position," O'Fallon Athletics Director Todd Moeller wrote in the district's announcement. " ... OTHS is requesting the governing agencies involved reach agreement in the guidance being provided to high schools regarding athletic participation and to speak with 'one voice' on those issues moving forward."

According to a tracker published by illinois-basketball.com, 143 districts in the state have confirmed they're not playing, including all 104 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system.

Mascoutah High School, in the Mississippi Valley Region, is in "wait and see mode," Athletic Director Scott Battas said.

"Certainly, we respect and understand the [Southwestern Conference] decision," he said. " ... There are definitely ways to play basketball safely under a protocol that is in the best interest of our kids, but to make that happen, the state and IHSA truly need to open a line of communication and have a conversation about all options available."

Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville has been teaching students in-person, five days a week, since August. Athletic Director Kathy Wuller said the district hadn't made a decision, and she didn't know what they would do if a consensus isn't reached, but that the school was very concerned about whether it would compromise in-person learning.

"We don't want to jeopardize the academic portion of this. We're not hybrid and we're not remote, and we don't want to jeopardize that," Wuller said. " ... [Academics] has to be number one. These kids learn so much better in-person than they do at home."

COVID-19 cases have been rising across Illinois and nationwide, including the state's Region 4, where the Southwestern Conference is located. Illinois surpassed 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths Thursday, which Pritzker called a "terrible milestone."

Region 4 hit its highest single-day record for new cases, reporting 356 new cases Thursday; the seven-day rolling average for positivity rates has been above 10% for three consecutive days and above 8% for two weeks. The region includes St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph counties.

Mentzer said his goal is to encourage the governing boards to come up with a solution between now and Nov. 16.

"This is something that schools want for their kids," he said. " ... It doesn't do any good to try to figure out how we got here. At this point, I'd just like to try to come up with a solution so our kids can have the opportunity at some point."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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