OC will keep players and students separate
The Orange County school district is creating its own bubble for varsity football teams, following the lead of the NBA and other major sports leagues in dealing with COVID-19.
Orange County Public Schools announced late last week that football players must either stay home for distance learning during the school day or attend virtual classes on campus within a “cohort group” that includes only teammates.
The idea, which OCPS said is recommended by its Medical Advisory Committee, will separate football players from the rest of the student body. That is advisable, the district said, because football athletes are involved in a sport that has direct contact and little ability to adequately social-distance its participants during practices and games.
Orange County schools superintendent Barbara Jenkins voiced her concerns during recent school board meetings. She said a football team that had players contract COVID-19 could quickly spread the virus across a campus.
The measure impacts only varsity players because OCPS has postponed football for junior varsity and ninth-grade teams to the winter season. The start dates for those teams has not yet been announced.
Mike Gaudreau, who oversees athletics for Seminole County Public Schools, and Ryan Adams, the county athletic director for Osceola public schools, both said their districts are at this point not considering moving football athletes to separate classrooms or postponing the start of JV and ninth-grade programs.
OCPS on Friday posted an announcement describing the policy that included this statement:
“Given the factors associated with playing varsity football and the recommendations from our Medical Advisory Committee, the district is taking additional measures to ensure the safety of the entire student body. Students will be able to continue their education on LaunchEd@Home or within a cohort group of their teammates. This will ensure that those athletes having direct contact and unable to adequately social distance will not expose non-team members while attending face-to-face instruction.”
The district has said about 50% of varsity football players already were enrolled in the
LaunchEd model, where classes start at a specific time — just like normal school — but students are away from campus watching teachers instruct via video conferencing.
Players who choose the cohort option will also be using the LaunchEd platform to continue their current classes. They will stay in one group in one school room all day under the supervision of a staff member. They will not change classrooms and will not eat lunch in the school cafeteria.
Parents have told the Sentinel the announcement was made to players last Thursday afternoon. It sparked some immediate criticism from athletes and families.
David Friend, the father of a Windermere High sophomore varsity player, said the policy forces players to “choose between a
better way of learning and the sport they love.”
Friend said he believes most of his son’s teammates were enrolled in face-toface learning prior to the announcement.
“I realize [OCPS] is dealing with a lot of issues. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense to segregate these kids,” Friend said. “All the data the governor [Ron DeSantis] has talked about says high
school age athletes are not spreading the virus. OCPS is completely out of sync with what he is saying.”
The Orange County plan is based on the same socialdistancing advice that prompted the NBA to resume its 2020 season with teams isolated in designated Disney World hotels. Teams practice in a hotel ballroom and play games at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex minus spectators.
The options the general student body has include traditional in-person classes on campus, LaunchEd, and virtual school, where students set their own schedule to watch instructional videos and complete work.
Official preseason practices for fall sports were scheduled to start at the beginning of this week for Orange County Public Schools.
Classes for Orange County Public Schools started Aug. 10 with nine days of LaunchEd for all students. Face-to -face classes began Aug. 21.