Staff outlines proposed sports spectator policy
Turf field capped at 250 people, including players, coaches
LANSDALE » No final decisions have been made yet, but the North Penn school board now has a clearer picture of how parents could soon be allowed to watch fall sports.
District officials gave an update Monday night on the latest guidelines from above on allowing spectators, and how the rules will likely differ by venue.
“The facts have changed. So has our opinion, to some degree,” said Assistant Superintendent Todd Bauer.
Last week the school board held a lengthy discussion on the topics needing further attention, discussion and information ahead of a possible return to in-person instruction, and tabled talks on amending their rules to allow spectators at fall sports that have returned. Since the Sept. 17 meeting, Bauer told the board’s Safe Schools committee on Monday night, further guidance has been issued by the state Department of Education, followed by added statements from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, and the Suburban One League in which the district participates.
The PDE statement “encourages schools to voluntarily enforce the 25-person indoor and 250-person outdoor gathering limitation” while state orders are litigated, while the PIAA guidance says that “discussion with your school board and local solicitor is appropriate so that each school considers all relevant factors” in modifying those limits.
The Suburban One League has similarly said that “each school district will make its own decision regarding allowing home spectators to home games,” while not permitting visiting spectators, “with the understanding that this is a fluid situation and subject to change.”
Bauer said he and district administration, including Superintendent Curt Dietrich, high school Principal Pete Nicholson and solicitor Kyle Somers, have been monitoring and discussing those latest statements and developments
statewide, and begun to develop recommendations.
“It’s really in limbo who has the authority here, and there are some districts that are not following the 250-person outdoor gathering rule,” particularly in the western part of the state, Bauer said.
“We do not have that situation here in North Penn, because currently Crawford Stadium is under construction,” he said.
Work began on a major renovation of the high school football stadium in June, and Bauer said with that facility closed until the end of the just-started school year, the next-largest venue in the district is the turf field at the high school campus, where football games have occasionally been played in recent years.
“For the turf field, our recommendation is to limit participation to 250 individuals. That includes student athletes, coaches, referees, and other game personnel, security, maintenance: all-inclusive, we would say, limit this to 250 individuals,” he said.
“When you talk about a football game, that leaves very little wiggle room, because the rosters are easily 40 or 50 players, if not more. Then throw in the coaching staffs, throw in the trainers, and some press, and very quickly we are approaching that 250 number,” he said.
Since getting the updated state guidance, Bauer said he and Nicholson “went out to the field with a tape measure” and measured the space available in the bleachers, with six feet of distancing.
“We believe there are 72 current spots in the bleachers where we could place household members. I say it that way specifically, because for example, if two parents were to come to a game, they could sit in a spot and not count as two people — it’s 72 spots that will allow us to keep households socially distant,” Bauer said.
Staff are recommending the individual team coaches manage the ticket process, since they have the most knowledge of how many household members each player may have, then the district athletic department manage the ticket distribution. All who attend games would be subject to having their temperature taken, screening questions when they arrive, be required to war masks, and keep six feet away from those outside their household.
Staff are also recommending that the turf field be enclosed with a windscreen fence, to avoid any gathering on the outside of the fence where tickets would not be required and distancing violations could happen.
“We do not want to have large gatherings of students at a football game, for example at that fence. So they would be looking to install a wind screen that they can’t see through, so there’s no point to somebody standing outside, because they can’t see,” Bauer said.
“If this is permitted, it would be relayed to family and students that a lack of compliance ultimately would result in us not having any fans,” he said.
Bauer added that administrators plan to see in person how the distancing rules work: Nicholson was attending a field hockey game during the committee meeting, and he and Dietrich plan to attend the first football game to see the rules in action.
“If we think the conditions are unsafe, we would have to, unfortunately, come back to the board and let you know, and we would prevent fans from coming,” he said.
Committee student liaison Sahana Prasad said she thought the rules could be distributed through high school student government social media channels, and committee chairman Jonathan Kassa said he thought the highest priority should be given to parents whose students are in their last season.
“The goal here is to get families, especially parents, of seniors. It’s my understanding, in the hierarchy of ‘Need for watching a game,’ that’s most important, and I’m not sure we’re going to get all the way down to students,” Kassa said.
Bauer said each team that plays at the turf field may be asked to make arrangements to allow as many families of seniors to attend as possible, so a team with 20 seniors could have ten honored at one game and ten at another, while others could vary.
“You could have a 70-person football team, but only three seniors, so maybe juniors would be able to attend right now,” Bauer said.
District staff and students are a lso tr y ing to live-stream as many sports online as possible, Bauer told the committee: in addition to the school board committees on Monday night, the student-run NPTV channel also streamed a field hockey game that Nicholson attended, and a volleyball match from Quakertown simultaneously.
“That’s one way we can mitigate the risk, by streaming things, so people can stay in the comfort of their own home, be safe, and watch these events,” Bauer said.
The district currently has eight fall sports preparing to play games and with the spectator question up for discussion: field hockey, football, cross-country, boys water polo, girls water polo, soccer, tennis, golf, and girls volleyball, according to Bauer. The volleyball team is playing no home contests, he said, while tennis uses its own courts and cross-country goes across the high school campus, leaving the proposed turf field spectator rules applicable for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse (in spring) and football.
“It certainly can’t hold 6,000 or 7,000. It can hold 200, but we’re not suggesting that — for a football game, I’m going to give a round figure of maybe 30 fans, because of the number of players and personnel required to put on a football game,” Bauer said.
For other sports, the numbers are similar: at the tennis courts and for cross-country, attendance would also be limited to 250, with similar screening and mask requirements, but Bauer said in his experience as high school principal, he rarely saw crowds that big for those sports.
“We won’t get anywhere close to 250 people for a tennis or cross-country match, and cross-country is so spread out, across the whole campus,” he said.
“Once in a while, you’ll see somebody standing there, and wonder ‘Why is that person standing there?’ And then a student will run by and you’ll understand, they’re cheering,” he said.
The other sport up for possible board discussion is boys and girls water polo, which Bauer said is currently playing at the outdoors pools at Whites Road Park in Lansdale Borough. Staf f recommendations are to allow a maximum of 100 spectators there, with home fans only, and the recent cold snap has raised several new questions.
“The water’s getting awfully cold at Whites Road, so they are looking to play at other venues, if possible,” he said.
If the board does allow fans at Whites Road, similar screening, temperaturetaking and masks would be required, and the board would also have to approve participation at other venues, Bauer said.
Regarding enforcement of those attendance counts and the distancing guidelines, district Coordinator of Safe Schools Chris Doerr said he’s been in contact with Towamencin Police Chief Tim Dickinson on how those officers are approaching COVID-19.
“He did make it a point to say that his agency, his officers, are not enforcing social distancing guidelines. For example, at TYA baseball on the weekends in the township, they are not” enforcing crowd sizes or mask mandates, he said, referring to the local Towamencin Youth Association sports league.
“It’s a question if they’re even authorized to enforce those things — the state police can, because it’s an order of the governor — but his officers are staying away from enforcing social distancing, masks, and so on,” Doerr said.
District security staff are available to enforce the district’s own rules and regulations on district property, and if any issues are encountered, police are not far, he added.
“T hey a re c er t a in ly available to assist us with hav ing fol k s escor ted from a sport, should that be needed. The police are there to assist our internal folks, but they are not enforcing those things themselves,” Doerr said.
Kassa said he thought it unlikely that any parent disturbance at a game would escalate to a point where police would be needed.
“We have a great community, everyone wants to see the kids play, but I think as the Safe Schools committee, we have to think about the worst case, and plan for it,” he said.
Prasad added that, based on what she has seen and heard from fellow seniors, the social distancing guidelines may be harder to enforce than the mask mandates.
“I think if the district is pretty strict about it, but within reason, then we could probably make it happen. But it’s definitely one of the harder things to do, from what I’ve seen,” she said.
Bauer and Doerr said they’d keep the school board apprised of any future developments as they happen. North Penn’s school board next meets at 6 p.m. on Sept. 22 and at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 and the Safe Schools committee next meets at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26; for more information visit www.NPenn.org.