DOVER – The School Board voted to allow two family members to attend varsity sports games at Dover High School.
"I do believe that families want to see their kids play, and will abide by whatever rules are put forth," School Board Chair Amanda Russell said during Monday’s board meeting.
The vote comes about a month after they voted unanimously to ban all spectators from fall sports to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But after hearing from parents, the board voted this week to allow two family members of each varsity athlete to have tickets to attend the games.
School Board Vice Chair Keith Holt made the motion to change the policy, which will also allow cheerleaders and band members to attend football games.
He acknowledged "that priorities are a little out of whack," stating he believes "the focus for the district is to get students back in the classroom."
"Even though I’m frustrated with sports parents, I think that we can provide the two tickets. I think the referees can manage that," Holt said. "I see the risk (as) really low here."
School Board member Carolyn Mebert reminded board members she voted against allowing fall sports "because I thought that it was a risky proposition."
"This is minor in comparison to letting kids knock each other in the head out on the field some place," Mebert said. "We allowed that, I don’t see any reason not to allow parents to sit quietly and nicely in the stands, no yelling."
Athletic Director Peter Wotton explained that family members attending games would have to wear masks and keep socially distanced.
Two family members of each student athlete will receive tickets for the duration of the season, which they’ll have to show at the gate, he said.
"We won’t be collecting tickets," Wotton said during Monday’s meeting.
"We believe we have enough space and can (socially distance)," Wotton added.
Spectators will be allowed it sit with "members of their immediate household only," he said.
No family members of visiting athletes will be allowed to attend Dover games, Wotton said.
He estimated the maximum amount of family members attending home games will be about 36 to 40 for field hockey, 26 for volleyball, 46 for boys and girls soccer, 100 to 110 for football and 40 for the cheer team.
The band will do a pregame show, including the national anthem at the two remaining home football games, he said.
"When that’s over, the band would depart and the band parents would also depart," he said.
Dover’s policy puts it at a mid-level compared other schools around the state. Some schools have been allowing two tickets per family and no visiting team fans like Dover will do now. Other schools have been allowing visiting teams two tickets per player as well. And some schools, like Dover before its change in policy, have not allowed any fans at all.
Russell noted that "if you put 46 people around a soccer field, they’re pretty sparse and can be significantly distanced."
School Board member Zachary Koehler referenced the recent COVID-19 outbreak at the White House that led to positive tests for President Donald Trump and key staffers.
"Everyone who went to the White House to look at the Supreme Court justice (nominee) also was told they’d be a very small percentage chance of anything happening and there was almost a chance that the vice president of the United States would have to take over responsibilities of leading this country," he said during Monday’s meeting.
Russell reminded him that people attending that event were unmasked.
But Koehler stated "they were also told everyone’s getting screened, everyone’s getting checked, it didn’t stop it."
"People yell at us for not listening to them enough so I guess we’ll just go with it," he said.
Superintendent William Harbron told School Board members "every decision we make about sports is going to have a direct effect on how we get students back into the classroom."
The board voted in allow to adopt a primary virtual learning model for the start of the school year.
"From your emails and the ones I’ve received, people are having a very difficult time separating why we’re allowing sports while we’re keeping students out of our buildings," he said before the board voted.
"We have to make sure we’re very careful with this decision and what impact does that have on students in the future, what impact does that have on getting students back into the classroom," Harbron said.
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