The Hawaii State Department of Education’s extracurricular and co-curricular activities are scheduled to begin in person on Aug. 19, the department wrote in a news release received by NickAbramo.com at 4:10 p.m. today.
According to the release, “All programming will be required to adhere to state and county declarations and follow health and safety protocols in the Department’s Return to Learn plan. The date is subject to change as HIDOE continues to monitor the situation and guidance issued by health and government officials.”
“We recognize the importance of extracurricular activities when it comes to the overall educational experience of our students. Given the current global health crisis, we are taking steps to ensure the safety of our students and staff while trying to balance a whole-child approach to learning that these programs provide,” Superintendent of Schools Christina Kishimoto said. “We will continue to work closely with medical and health officials to evaluate our processes and procedures as this pandemic evolves.”
The big delay in starting the sports season is due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Due to the seriousness of the world pandemic, even these guidelines by the DOE announcing a practice start date can eventually be rescinded — if the crisis worsens.
A week ago, the DOE had announced that Aug. 19 was the earliest possible start date. Today’s release is verification that Aug. 19 will indeed be the start date. According to the release, cxtracurricular and co-curricular activities include, but are not limited to, athletics, band, academic competitions and clubs. Examples include:
- Fall sports: football, cheerleading, cross country, air rifle, girls volleyball, and bowling
- Speech and debate team in-person meetings
- Marching band practice
- Drama club rehearsals
- Staff professional development
The DOE plans to open schools Aug. 4. A call to Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Chris Chun was not immediately returned.
The HHSAA’s start-date committee has been meeting nearly every week in an effort to plan a fall season if the go-ahead from the DOE came. It has now come.
The HHSAA and its five member leagues are made up of public and private schools. These general guidelines do not apply directly to the state’s private schools. (One league, the ILH, is made up of all private schools; some other private schools are part of some of the other four leagues). The HHSAA start-date committee has a meeting scheduled for next Thursday, when it is presumed a clearer picture of how the private schools fit in will be announced.
A shortened, 11-week fall sports season is expected to be held, the HHSAA announced earlier this summer.
This post will continue to be updated if more details become available.
