This morning, the Kansas State Board of Education rejected Gov. Kelly's executive order delaying the start of the school year. This afternoon, the KSHSAA Executive Committee met to discuss next steps.
While the specifics are uncertain, it appears increasingly likely that high school fall sports - including cross country - will happen in Kansas this year. There's a lot to untangle, but here's what we know as of this writing:
- The state board's rejection of Gov. Laura Kelly's Executive Order 20-58 simply returned things back to where they were before that order was issued - schools and districts can determine their own start dates, like always. Gov. Kelly's Executive Order 20-59, mandating certain remediation procedures, remains in effect.
- As always, individual districts and schools will have to decide the manner and extent to which they participate in fall sports, but do so in light of covid concerns.
- The Executive Committee also passed a "Remote Learning & Direct Instruction Policy". It states: "Students who are receiving direct instruction via remote learning and are enrolled in at least 5 new subjects of unit weight will be eligible for participation in KSHSAA sponsored activities only at the member school in which they are enrolled and receiving instruction."
- KSHSAA will conduct a survey of school superintendents regarding individual district plans before issuing further guidance. However, as KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick stated during this afternoon's meeting, "We have three-and-a-half weeks until practice starts. We can't wait until the last minute on this."
We will provide further updates as information becomes known and can be confirmed.