Despite the school announcing Friday that it will change its learning model due to a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Clay and Cass counties, Moorhead activities director Dean Haugo says sports are still on.

“We’re still full go with athletics at this point,” he said. “All of our varsity programs will carry on with the scheduled practices and games.”

Moorhead started the year in a hybrid learning model, but the coronavirus case rate doubled for the second consecutive week and is now at 36.78 cases per 10,000 population. The Minnesota Department of Education guidelines recommend distance learning for case rates higher than 30.

In a letter sent to parents by Moorhead Area Public Schools superintendent Brandon Lunak, he says that fewer than 10 staff or students in the district have tested positive. Lunak also stressed that the guidelines from the MDE are not requirements and that each school district is able to implement its own protocols.

A number of schools are in counties that the MDE guidelines recommend to move to distance learning have continued to compete in athletics, including several schools in Winona County in southeast Minnesota which has the second-highest case rate in the state at 67.65 — more than double the rate in Clay County.

Haugo says there is not a specific number at which the school will stop athletics, but that they will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as new circumstances come.

“I’m not even going to speculate on that at this point,” Haugo said. “Based on the factors at play right here today, we are still full go. As with anything else with COVID we know everything is fluid. We are in our regular seasons right now as we were and we will continue as we transition into distance learning.”

Moorhead’s move to distance learning comes mere days before it could be adding more sports back into the fold this fall. The Minnesota State High School League board of directors has scheduled a meeting for this upcoming Monday to vote on whether to return football and volleyball to this fall season.