Returning Extracurriculars for Fully Vaccinated Students

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Clubs and extracurricular sports will return to schools in the Windsor-Essex region likely next month for students who are fully vaccinated.

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On Thursday, the local health unit, the four local school boards and the Windsor Essex County High School Athletic Association made a joint announcement on how to get kids back to play.

“The consensus was that we will recommend that extracurricular activities can be restarted for participants who are fully vaccinated. We are asking school boards and school officials to develop a policy so they can carry it out, ”said Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Acting Medical Health Officer for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

Health unit officials and school boards met Wednesday to discuss a safe return to the game that would limit the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

“I think it’s a great plan to move forward,” said Emelda Byrne, director of education for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board. “We need to move forward and we know that extracurricular activities are very important to the mental and physical health of our students.”

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Byrne said the board could have a procedure “for next week. The board has established policies, this would be a procedure and it doesn’t take that long. “

Once the procedure has been approved, the next step would be to determine how students, staff, external trainers, officials, and volunteers would provide proof of vaccination.

Finally, when it comes to the list of sports offered, the board would consider the time constraints before the traditional winter season begins, the number of eligible student-athletes, and the availability of coaches.

The Catholic board had already decided that soccer would not be offered until next fall, while the public board hoped to hold a season when it was allowed.

Byrne anticipated that everything could be in place to start playing other sports in mid to late November.
“We will start the process tomorrow,” he said.

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Fully immunized students in grades 7 and 8 will also be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities.

The health unit said Thursday that about 64 percent of people ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated and just over 73 percent have received just one dose.

The joint statement from the four local school boards also noted that teams that play only within Windsor and Essex County and will not advance to postseason play in Southwest Ontario or the Ontario-wide level.

“Some of the other associations have not required the same public health standards with regard to vaccinating student-athletes, volunteers and officials,” the statement read. “Competing with other school boards and traveling to other locations in Ontario is not compatible with safe regional play at this time.”

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The statement was signed by Byrne, Erin Kelly, Greater Essex County School Board Education Director Sebastien Fontaine, Conseil Scolaire Viamonde Acting Director of Education, Joe Picard, Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence Director of Education and Jim Kittl, President of WECSSAA.

The statement explains that playing regionally is aligned with the orientation of the health unit.

The WECSSAA executive met Thursday to discuss next steps. After the meeting, Kittl couldn’t say if soccer would be played this fall.

“It’s hard to tell at this point,” he said. “We really didn’t know from the beginning how many schools were going to have a team. We don’t want to take an opportunity away from anyone. “

Kittl said a larger WECSSAA legislative meeting would be held soon with a representative from each school to share more information.

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