Maryland State Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Karen Salmon announced an option today for school districts to move forward with fall athletics competitions as early as October 27, with practices starting October 7. At this time Frederick County Public Schools is committed to athletics conditioning and skills-based practices during the first semester and to continued collaboration with the Frederick County Health Department (FCHD).
FCPS takes great pride in how much our communities value the numerous benefits of education-based athletic and extracurricular activity participation for our students, says Kevin Kendro, supervisor of FCPS athletics and extracurricular activities. The school system’s Return-to-Play (RTP) Committee works in direct collaboration with the health department, Kendro says, and has followed the guidance from the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s (MPSSAA) Roadmap for Return to Interscholastic Athletics: Two-Semester Plan in developing the current return-to-play process.
At an upcoming meeting of the Board of Education of Frederick County, the Board will hear an update from the RTP Committee. The 2020 fall sports season that was scheduled to begin on August 12 was delayed by an August 3 state-wide decision to postpone fall sports. In response to the state’s decision, the FCPS RTP Committee, in collaboration with the FCHD and with BOE approval, initiated voluntary conditioning and skills-based practices for fall, spring and winter sports during the first semester. FCPS was one of the first Maryland school systems to offer this opportunity for students and coaches, which includes practices for spring student-athletes and coaches who lost their entire competitive season at the end of the last school year. Since FCPS began voluntary conditioning and skills-based practices, many other school systems have implemented or are preparing to implement them using a similar model.
The Board’s next regular meeting is Wednesday, October 7.