ALBANY – On Thursday, the NYS Education Department recommended school districts cancel their high-risk sporting events in areas where there is a high transmission of COVID-19 unless the participants are all fully vaccinated.
The sports recommendations are part of the NYS Education Department’s “school reopening guidelines” for the 2021-2022 school year.
Sports considered to be in “Higher Risk” are encouraged to cancel their seasons if they are located in counties with a “high” rate of new COVID cases. The majority of Hudson Valley counties are currently considered to have “high” transmission rates. The breakdown by county can be found here.
According to NYS, “High-risk sports and extracurricular activities should be virtual or canceled in areas of high community transmission unless all participants are fully vaccinated.” The State considers sports such as football, volleyball, and competitive cheer/dance to be “higher risk”.”
Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R, New Windsor), is opposed to the new guidance. Schmitt and colleague Ed Ra sent a letter to the incoming Governor, Kathy Hochul, and the Commissioner of Education objecting to the new guidance that placed interscholastic sports back on the docket to be halted, referencing COVID-19 and student vaccinations as the factor preventing youth sports to continue.
“Here we go again. Our students need to be allowed to play interscholastic sports,” said Schmitt, adding “I fought the Cuomo administration vigorously to ensure our students have the ability to get back to their interscholastic sports earlier this year and we were victorious. With a new Governor coming into office, I find it troubling that one of the first actions would be to once again cancel some school sports for our kids.” The lawmaker continued expressing opposition, saying ” The science on this issue has not changed. It is safe to play all interscholastic sports and teams have the ability to do so following proper safety protocols. The state needs to get out of the way and let them play,” Schmitt told incoming Governor Hochul.
