For the third time in two weeks, the Akron Public Schools administration asked the school board on Monday to consider a plan to move forward with fall sports.

For a third time, and then a fourth time, the school board said “no.”

By narrow votes, the board voted down two resolutions presented by the administration Monday that would have restarted athletics amid the continued spread of the coronavirus.

One resolution addressed contact sports including football, cheerleading and soccer. The other dealt with non- or low-contact sports, including cross-country, volleyball, golf and tennis, as well as the FAST swim team that uses the pool at Firestone CLC.

The votes mean all sports and activities remain suspended through Nov. 11.

The weeks of debate and resulting series of votes highlights the struggle local school districts, especially ones like Akron with more vulnerable students, are facing in trying to make the best decision for their students and communities in the middle of a pandemic.

The board voted against the resolutions with votes of 4-3, despite support from state and local health officials to allow sports to move forward.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced last week he would allow all fall sports take place this fall if districts wished to move forward with them.

The administration brought Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda into the virtual meeting Monday to give a review of Akron’s proposal to restart sports.

The plan included closing locker rooms and limiting spectators to 15% of the capacity of any venue utilized. Skoda said it was well thought-out. The health department has recommended games not start until Oct. 1, but Skoda said that guidance assumed schools would be starting back in-person in mid-September. The Oct. 1 date was designed to give districts a chance to get school opened and slowly add back athletics.

Akron is starting the year online, which makes moving forward with sports right now safer, because those student athletes are mingling with their entire schools, she said. But any reopening, including resuming sports, will result in people getting sick, she said.

Akron already has had three cases of student athletes testing positive this summer.

The resolutions would have let practices and scrimmages restart immediately, with games and matches starting at the end of this month through mid-September.

The board members who voted against restarting sports for health reasons said they were not comfortable with the level of risk involved to students and their families.

Board member Valerie McKitrick said she was essentially being asked to be OK with making a child sick.

“I am unwilling to do that,” she said.

N.J. Akbar said he knows everyone wants children to play sports, “but at what cost?”

Board member Diana Autry voted for restarting contact sports, but when that failed, voted against allowing non-contact sports to move forwarded, arguing it should be an all-or-nothing decision.

Autry previously voted not to allow any sports to move forward, but said she was encouraged by the governor’s guidelines and that of the county health officials.

She also was sympathetic to an argument made by administrators that many schools lean on the structure of athletics to keep kids out of trouble, as violence continues to plague the city of Akron.

Autry and board member Lisa Mansfield said parents should have a say in whether the risk is acceptable for their families.

“They know their kids. They know the choices they’re making,” Mansfield said.

Board President Patrick Bravo also was in favor of moving forward with sports, although admitting he had gone back and forth on it nearly daily.

Ahead of the votes, Bravo said if the resolutions failed, the board would need to have conversations about what metrics they should use to decide when it would be safe to start sports again. The same discussion will need to be had around reopening school. The board voted to start the year online for the first nine weeks, which would be through Nov. 11. Sports will be canceled through then as well, per a resolution the board passed Aug. 10.

“I’m OK when we as a community decide we need to set the bar higher,” Bravo said. “If we’re going to set the bar higher, then I’d like to know where we’re setting it.”

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.