DeKalb County Schools delays all 2020 fall athletics
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - DeKalb County School District announced Friday that all athletic activity for the 2020 fall season will be delayed until the end of September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delay includes marching bands and auxiliary groups.
The district said it will continue conditioning through September while monitoring and revisiting its plan.
The decision comes after reviewing the latest data from the DeKalb County Board of Health and feedback from parents, coaches and other stakeholders regarding the increase of COVID-19 cases in DeKalb County.
"After evaluating the data and the cases since July 1, the District feels that this decision is in the bestinterest of our student-athletes, coaches, their families, and the community. The concerns created bycoronavirus place our student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk, even after safety measures wereimplemented during practices,” said Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris. “As a mother of a formerhigh school football player and competitive cheerleader, I understand the role sports play in galvanizingthe local community and instilling the values of teamwork, leadership, self-discipline and perseverance among our scholars. However, the current health risk is too great."
DeKalb officials said there have been 14 cases of COVID-19 associated with DCSD sports activity since July 1.
DeKalb County joins Fulton County in delaying all fall sports in response to the pandemic.
The GHSA released a statement this week saying the start date for the football season will remain September 4th, though the organization says it will continue to watch COVID-19 data over the next two weeks to determine if the start date will remain the same.