DOVER – Students and parents will have to wait at least another week to find out if fall sports will be offered this year.

The Dover School Board discussed the topic Monday night, but did not make any final decisions after hearing several options from Peter Wotton, the district’s director of athletics.

The district’s Medical Advisory Committee advised the board last week it does not believe there should be fall sports, including cheering or band when the school year starts.

“I’m going to tell you it’s the unanimous and strong opinion of the (medical) council that fall sports, cheering and band, as well as weight room use, should not be considered until sessions of school are back in full in-person school,” retired pediatrician and Medical Committee member Dr. Skip Small told the board last week.

The board voted in early August to adopt a “primarily virtual model” for educating students to start the upcoming school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

School Board Chair Amanda Russell stated at this week’s meeting that the board would not decide about fall sports until next week.

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The Medical Advisory Committee did not have time to meet last week to “address athletics again” with “some additional information,” Russell said. The committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, school officials said.

The school year is slated to start Sept. 10, according to the district’s website. Fall sports and whether to play or not has been a topic in districts around the state. Some have decided they will play, others have decided they won’t and many remain undecided.

“I think anything we can do to offer opportunities for students to participate in an activity in the safest way we can is something that we have to consider,” Russell said during Monday’s meeting.

She noted some school districts “are saying yes to everything, and they’re going to be a tremendous learning curve for us.”

“I think perhaps when the Medical Advisory Committee meets and looks over additional information, there might be an amended view, perhaps,” Russell said. “I certainly hope they’re willing to look at their stance on band.”

The Medical Advisory Committee made its recommendation despite being “fully aware of the tremendous value these activities can have for our kids,” Small said during last week’s meeting.

“However, we could not make the case that participation in sports, band or cheering is less risky than in-person school sessions,” Small said. “It may well be more risky.”

School Board Vice Chair Keith Holt shared his concerns about whether parents would follow the rules about no or limited spectators if sports are allowed.

“Even when you say limited spectators or no spectators at all, folks just don’t listen,” he said. “All these folks who are sending us emails please do this … they have to understand that if we even decide to offer this that they have to follow these guidelines. “I’m fearful that they’re not going to.”

Wotton told the board students “may sit around at home or they may end up on the streets or things like that” if there are no fall sports. But he acknowledged, “I don’t think anything we do will be 100% safe.”

If there are no fall sports, Wotton predicted, some students will go to private club sports offered through Seacoast United or The Rinks at Exeter.

“I maintain we can do it as safe or safer then some of those organizations,” Wotton said. He also pointed to the “equity piece” surrounding the decision.

He asked what happens to “those kids who can’t do anything, the kids that don’t have the ride down to Seacoast United, don’t have the finances to do that sort of stuff.”

Wotton shared several options with the board about different models for offering sports.

Option 1 called for allowing full fall sports, including all high school and middle school teams. The season likely would be shorter than normal and Dover would try to play a regional schedule, he said. This is in line with New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association plans.

They would follow the protocols “already in place for the summer,” which includes wearing masks and social distancing as much as possible, he said.

They would also continue to do health and temperature checks with limited spectators outside and none inside, he said.

Option 2 would be a hybrid model, where the district would offer all high school sports, but only intramural sports at the middle school, Wotton said.

Option 3 would be a different hybrid where only varsity high school teams would play a modified 10- to 12-game schedule, he said.

Only nine teams would travel and the middle school would have only intramural sports, he said.

Option 4 would offer “no interscholastic competition,” Wotton said, and the middle and high schools would have only intramural sports.

They would play or practice two to three times a week, he said.

Option 5 would be no fall sports, band or cheering, he said.

He also stated the board would have to decide what to do “if we get that positive COVID test.” “What do we do then? That’s something that will also be a challenge.”