Students, parents from NEC schools protest decision to delay fall sports – Itemlive

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August 29, 2020

Students, parents from NEC schools protest decision to delay fall sports – Itemlive

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DANVERS — Student-athletes and parents from multiple Northeastern Conference schools made their voices heard Friday, as members of the Swampscott, Peabody, Danvers, Beverly and Masconomet communities gathered in front of Danvers Town Hall to protest the NEC’s decision to delay fall sports until the new Fall II floating season beginning in February. The protesters aimed to put pressure on both the MIAA and the NEC to rescind their decisions and allow students back on the field in the fall. In the case of Swampscott’s protesters, it was also to show displeasure with the decision by the school committee to move to a fully remote learning model to start the year.

More than 100 students attended Friday’s rally.

The rally began in front of the Town Hall and then proceeded to the downtown crossing area at the corner of Elm St. and High St. Students stood on the sides of the road holding up signs with slogans such as “Let Us Play,” getting plenty of support from passing cars in a symphony of horn blasts.

Swampscott students and parents initially had their own rally planned for Friday morning in front of Swampscott High to protest both the delay of fall sports and the recent decision for Swampscott schools plan to open entirely remotely, but decided to combine their rally with Danvers and the other NEC schools.

“Swampscott surveyed parents asking how they felt about bringing the kids back to school and 70 percent responded that they were comfortable sending kids back fully,” said Barry Greenfield, a parent of two Swampscott student-athletes. “So we were all expecting either a hybrid model or kids fully back in classes, but then the decision came down and they decided to go fully remote. We know teachers who want to go back to the classroom, and we know that parents and students want to go back, and we also know that plenty of administrators want us to go back. It’s the teachers union putting pressure on the teachers, and we want the union to know that the community doesn’t support their position at all.

“As for sports, the MIAA came out with these ludicrous guidelines that are impossible to follow and basically forced the NEC’s hand because there’s no way you can play sports under those conditions,” Greenfield added. “We’ve had kids playing sports all summer with no problems. People have been packing the beaches every day. There’s clearly a huge disconnect between the MIAA and everyone else, and we’re asking the MIAA to rescind those guidelines so the NEC can re-vote and allow these kids to play.”

Greenfield has also started a Change.org petition to all NEC officials and well as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, which can be found at change.org/letusplaysports.

School districts designated as ‘red’ based on the Department of Public Health‘s (DPH) metric of average daily cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day span and which therefore have their high school students learning remotely at the start of the season, must postpone their entire season, including practices, until the floating season later in the year.

The threshold for the various categories by the DPH are:

— Red: More than 8 cases per 100,000

— Yellow: 4-8 cases per 100,000

— Green: Less than 4 cases per 100,000

— Unshaded: Less than 5 total cases in the last 14 days

Per the latest weekly report from the DPH published on Aug. 26, the towns that make up the NEC were categorized as follows:

— Beverly: Green (2.4 per 100,000)

— Danvers: Green (2.0 per 100,000)

— Gloucester: Green (1.7 per 100,000)

— Lynn: Red (16.7 per 100,000)

— Marblehead: Green (2.6 per 100,000)

— Peabody: Yellow (5.0 per 100,000)

— Revere: Red (20.4 per 100,000)

— Swampscott: Yellow (5.7 per 100,000)

— Salem: Yellow (6.5 per 100,000)

— Saugus: Yellow (6.5 per 100,000)

— Winthrop: Red (9.9 per 100,000)

— Masconomet, which is made up of students from Boxford (Unshaded), Middleton (Unshaded) and Topsfield (Unshaded)

At the time the decision was made to postpone fall sports, both Salem and Saugus were still categorized as “red” districts.

The NEC principals voted 9-0-3 on Monday to delay the entire fall sports season, with the three abstentions coming from Danvers, Beverly and Gloucester. The prevailing theme from NEC athletic directors coming out of the meeting was that they wanted to really focus on league unity in their decision. But for parents and students, that unity should have included them as well.

“We needed to have a say in those decisions,” said Danvers field hockey player Grace Brinkley, who played a key role in organizing the rally along with her teammates. “The kids haven’t been included in any part of the process and that’s just wrong. We want to play.”

“Our (football) season was pushed to February and I know we’re not going to play, but a lot of kids here are hoping to play a fall season,” said Brandon Bettano, a football player at Masconomet. “We just got put into a new league in the NEC and it’s a big year to prove ourselves, so we’d all love to get out on the field in every sport.”

“I understand the decision to move the sports because of safety reasons, but I think there could have been a better compromise to allow all of these kids to play,” said Wendy Cooper, a parent of a Danvers field hockey player. “Field hockey and volleyball have been practicing and having games since July, so I’m not sure what’s different about the fall.”

Mike Alongi can be reached at malongi@itemlive.com.

Students, parents from NEC schools protest decision to delay fall sports – Itemlive : Itemlive