VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — With the winter season taking high school athletics indoors, Virginia Beach City Public Schools is planning accordingly.
Student-athletes must fit into one of three categories in order to participate in winter sports.
- Vaccinated athletes must present proof of vaccination to the school nurse as soon as Nov. 1, but no later than Wednesday, Nov. 10.
- Unvaccinated athletes who have had COVID within the last 90 days must submit documentation from their medical provider -- noting the date when they were cleared to return to school -- to their school nurse as soon as Nov. 1, but no later than Wednesday, Nov. 10.
- All other unvaccinated athletes must participate in weekly testing at their home school. Parental/guardian consent and registration with Mako Medical Laboratories (MML) for testing are required. Consent forms and a unique link to the MML site will be provided by schools to all winter athletes or anyone participating in winter conditioning programs. These forms may be submitted as soon as Nov. 1, but are due back to a school nurse by Wednesday, Nov. 10.
VBCPS Chief of Staff Dr. Don Robertson says the move comes not just to keep kids safe on the court, but in the classroom as well.
"We're using data. Even in outdoor sports, we had over 1000 days of missed instruction because kids were quarantined as a result of being in close contact with a positive case, and now we're moving indoors. It's not intrusive, mitigation is going to help us reduce those numbers and keep our kids safe," said Robertson.
Robertson is specific in highlighting the program's nonintrusive nature after some families have complained that the school system has overreached with the policy.
"Unfortunately there are some families that are not pleased with this decision, and we understand that, but we do have a duty to ensure our athletes and students are kept as safe as possible," Robertson said, calling the number of displeased families "small".