School sports on track to return in December

RCPS staff may get $500 holiday bonuses

There’s good news for student athletes and fans of the Rappahannock County Panthers this week. At the regular School Board meeting on Tuesday night, the board heard updates on high school athletics in preparation for the beginning of the winter sports season.

Rappahannock County Public Schools Athletics Director and School Nurse Courtney Atkins told the board that the Virginia High School League had released detailed new guidance for seasons, games and practices.

A shortened season for winter sports will resume in December, followed by abbreviated fall sports and spring sports seasons. The VHSL has stipulated that “inactive” players, coaches and spectators should wear masks on the sidelines but that when athletes and o cials are “active” they can remove their masks.

Atkins explained that the “if a young person is actively physically working out they should not have to wear a mask because of other dangers that can happen [and] coaches who are actively coaching do not have to wear a mask.”

“What is ‘active?’” asked Stonewall-Hawthorne representative Larry Grove, a former high school coach. “Some of these we have some input into, right?”

“Absolutely,” Atkins replied, noting that they might have to be creative with masks for coaches because communicating with athletes across a eld while wearing a face covering may pose challenges.

Other guidance includes shortening wrestling matches to 5 minutes rather than 6, discouraging volleyball teams from switching sides of the court (unless an “extreme disadvantage” is iden-tifed on one side of the court, like a light angling in a player’s eyes), and limiting contact between teams — no more highfives or handshakes with players on another team for now.

Spectators will be able to return to sports games, too. The VHSL has recommended that crowds at indoor and outdoor games must be limited to no more than 250 and that all spectators comply with temperature screenings, social distancing and self assessments on the honor system.

Here’s what else you need to know from Tuesday night’s meeting:

EQUITY COMMITTEE UPDATE

Dr. Robin Bolt, the Executive Director of Administrative Services and Director of the RCPS Equity Committee explained how her team is planning to close the equity gap in Rappahannock.

“Educational equity … is achieved when we can’t predict what is going to happen to a student based on race, gender, zip code, digital divide or any other factor,” Bolt said. “That’s when we know when we’ve hit our goal: when we can look at data and not discern which group is which.”

Following guidance from the Virginia Department of Education, Bolt said the rst step to reaching the goal of equity is reflection. She and her committee are now collecting data on student grades, discipline, truancy, SOL scores and students’ experiences.

“If we help one kid — and I think we can help a lot more than that — but if we help even one kid, that will make a difference,” Bolt said.

STAFF RAISES & BONUSES

Also on Tuesday night, the School Board discussed the possibility of extending the two-percent raise that was approved for teachers starting in December to all remaining sta , as well as o ering $500 holiday bonuses to all RCPS employees.

RCPS Superintendent Shannon Grimsley noted that the compensation increase is contingent upon the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors thawing some frozen funds that the schools are planning on receiving in 2021.

“But remember we did receive that grant from an anonymous donor to take care of our sta ,” Dr. Grimsley said. “And we could o set a large amount of the cost with that grant for [ bonuses].”

The School Board unanimously approved the 2021 budget calendar and is tentatively planning on a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors in February 2021.

FIRST QUARTER IN REVIEW

Impressively, RCPS saw only two cases of COVID-19 in the rst nine weeks of school and both cases were contained. “We were probably one of the only school districts that had so few cases,” Dr. Grimsley said. “The sta did a wonderful job and followed protocol to a T … and both times we didn’t have to close schools.”

The RCPS team has also successfully undertaken other initiatives to support students and sta , including a Saturday study hall, a Wednesday school program, Wellness Wednesdays at the 4-H Center and the implementation of sta wellness programs.