Sports Return To Butler Area School District After Its 10-Page Phased Plan Is Approved By The State
BUTLER, PA (KDKA) - School districts across the state are focusing on reopening this fall. Last week, KDKA reported Butler Area School District's plan was approved, and on Thursday, a number of fall sports returned to campus.
"We had a broad overview of what we wanted to do, but until we got that document from the governor, we had to wait on exact mandates," said Butler's Athletic Director Bill Mylan.
Mylan said he spent weeks coming up with a 10-page phased approach to bringing sports back on campus safely.
"We are working in pods of 10 with the kids. Whatever they are doing or working on, it will be in groups of 10, so if we have a situation arise, it will be easier to do contact tracing," Mylan said.
On July 7, the district will implement phase 2, which will allow sports to participate in contact touch in pads and practice in groups of 50.
"There aren't too many teams other than football that have more than 50 kids, so we will be able to manage that a lot better and do more team-orientated activities," Mylan said.
Another noticeable change includes coaches sporting masks, and disinfectant on every corner.
"We also have a cleaning crew in each of the venues where we are at so our custodial crew is coming every morning from 7 to 9," Mylan said.
Mylan said the district is hopeful these precautions will help, but for now, he said the summer is just a test for when all sports return in August.
"It gives us a little bit of a taste for what we are looking at for the fall," Mylan said.
The school district anticipates the plans could change before games and matches start this fall. Right now, most of the sports will not allow for spectators because it would create groups of more than 250.
