WRENTHAM — Superintendent Paul Zinni and Athletic Director Gary Brown are pleased to share that fall athletics and the band program will resume on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and Wrentham Board of Health approval.
The MIAA determined that the district could move forward with fall athletics and the band program if local boards of health gave them permission as well.
Then earlier today at the Wrentham Board of Health’s COVID-19 Task Force meeting the Wrentham Board of Health authorized the district to proceed with the start of the fall athletic season and band program as long as all safety protocols are followed.
Following MIAA guidelines and with the support of the Wrentham Board of Health, the district will host athletic tryouts from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25. At this time, the district remains on track to participate in their regularly scheduled games.
“I would like to thank Principal Lisa Mobley, Athletic Director Gary Brown and all of our administrators who advocated to the MIAA and Wrentham Board of Health on behalf of the district,” Superintendent Zinni said. “Thanks to their persistence and dedication, we will proceed with our fall athletic season and band program. I would also like to thank students, families, coaches, faculty and staff for their patience and understanding as we awaited final approval.”
On Friday, Sept. 18, the district postponed the start of the fall athletic season and band program, originally scheduled to begin today, due to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in two out of three district communities.
The Town of Wrentham was designated as a “Red” community following 15 confirmed positive cases belonging to one “cluster” of cases tied to a single nursing home.
While the clusters did not directly affect the school community, the district postponed the fall athletic season and band program following the joint guidance issued by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on Aug. 18 due to COVID-19 concerns
and on a clear directive from the MIAA to pause until further discussion could be held at the state level.
“We are pleased to report that at this time our local boards of health, the MIAA and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) have determined that it is safe for our students to participate in athletics as there are currently no positive confirmed COVID-19 cases in school-aged children in our district,” Athletic Director Brown said. “I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation during this time. I understand the additional wait was frustrating, but our top priority remains the health and safety of our students.”
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