Republicans Push To Allow High School Sports In PA
State Rep Mike Reese introduced a bill last week that would allow Pennsylvania’s local school districts to make decisions regarding fall sports and activities.
From Reese’s press release:
“The governor’s announcement to stop all high school sports until Jan.1 came as a complete shock to students, parents and even PIAA officials,” said Reese. “Why now, right before the academic year begins, are schools not able to make their own decisions about sports? Will similar announcements be forthcoming regarding other extracurricular activities? These should be local decisions driven by local circumstances and included in each school’s athletic, health and safety plan.”
Topper’s legislation, House Bill 2788, will allow students and families to have the option to continue the student’s education and extracurricular activities for an additional year to make up for the loss of instruction and competition during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years.
“We must provide options for our students and their families who have already been robbed of so much,” Topper said. “Students in Pennsylvania must have access to exceptional educational opportunities and if they don’t, then we’re simply not doing our job.”
Reese’s bill was referred to the House Committee on Education today.
Republicans to Wolf: Where’s the Data?
The York Dispatch reported today that, “Republican state lawmakers are questioning the specific data — or lack thereof — that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration used to recommend shutting down youth sports this fall.
Wolf issued a “strong recommendation” interscholastic and recreational youth sports be postponed until Jan. 1, but members of the Republican House Caucus criticized that decision Monday in a joint statement. One of those legislators, state Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover, released a Right to Know Law request he filed for relevant “public health data and models” that came back empty.
‘The fact that data was not used to make the recommendation by the governor to cancel sports this upcoming semester begs the question about what other policies from the governor were made without any data or science to support them?” Grove said in Monday’s statement.’ “