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Georgetown School Committee approves Fall 2 season

Daily News of Newburyport - 2/12/2021

Feb. 12—GEORGETOWN — The Georgetown School Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to allow football, girls volleyball and cheerleading to take part in the upcoming 'Fall 2' season, but only after receiving assurance there would be no tolerance for missteps following the COVID-19 outbreak that forced Georgetown basketball's cancellation in the winter.

The committee's vote capped off a nearly two hour discussion that for long stretches looked destined to end with the season's cancellation. The basketball outbreak weighed heavily on the committee members' minds, with several expressing significant concern over the prospect of playing football while others noted that they had been burned in the winter after players promised to follow protocols, but didn't.

Ultimately the committee members were swayed by the prospect that additional safety protocols could be implemented, by data presented by football coach Eric McCarthy detailing how high schools across the country largely haven't seen virus spread during games or practice, and by the promise that if any violations occur, Superintendent Carol Jacobs would immediately shut the sport down.

No pauses, no warnings, no tolerance for any missteps.

The tone for the discussion was set early as School Committee chair Barbie Linares and Jacobs laid out the challenges of moving forward with football in light of the basketball outbreak. They indicated that a large majority of the school district's team of medical experts had recommended against playing and that an outbreak similar to the one earlier this winter could not only put athletes at risk, but also potentially the rest of the school community.

"It's not just a risk for the team, it's a risk for the district," Jacobs said. "It's a risk for the teachers who are coming to work every day and not trying to be involved in situations with COVID coming into the school."

Vice chair Michael Hinchliffe also noted that once the basketball outbreak occurred, several players involved didn't cooperate with contact tracers. That made a bad situation worse, and he was concerned that something like that could potentially happen again.

Committee member Suzanne MacDonald, who spoke in support of playing throughout, said she felt students might be more likely to follow protocols because of the basketball situation. She added that Georgetown had successfully held its outdoor seasons during the fall and that all of the Cape Ann League's other schools plan to play.

Momentum started to shift towards allowing Fall 2 sports to play after the discussion moved to how some specific concerns could be addressed. Among the measures the committee discussed were pool testing, requiring cooperation with contact tracers and the understanding that any failure to follow protocols could result in immediate removal from the team, or in the event of an outbreak, cancellation of the season as a whole.

With the assurance that Jacobs and athletic director Ryan Browner would develop specific protocols that would be communicated to the coaches and athletes, along with a promise from several senior members of the football who were in attendance that those protocols would be enforced within the locker room, the committee members voted in favor of playing.

The Fall 2 season will run from Feb. 22 to April 25.

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