WVW school board leaves sports as is, looking into testing all athletes

KINGSTON — At an 8 a.m.Monday the Wyoming Valley West School Board held a special virtual meeting for a second vote on the fate of fall sports, but opted to skip the vote and look into requiring COVID-19 tests for all student athletes and band members.

Board President Joe Mazur opened the meeting reading the same motion that was voted on at a special meeting last Thursday: “approve/disapprove fall sports/extra-curricular activities 2020.” With one board member absent, that motion last week garnered a 4-4 tie, meaning it was defeated. Questions arose about what the vote actually meant, and solicitor Richard Goldberg said it meant things go back to the way they were prior to the vote.

That, in turn, led to students continuing to practice for fall sports, as they had been, but the confusion prompted the board to set Monday morning’s meeting for another vote.

This time, the meeting began with all nine members participating. Yet as soon as Mazur read the motion Monday morning, Board Member Brian Dubaskas asked “why are we re voting on the exact same thing? Thursday’s vote was tied, which meant sports went on. Why do we have to vote on this?”

Board Member James Fender then spoke about “another dynamic that came in over the weekend, and I think we should talk about it.”

Mazur then asked “does everyone agree not to have another vote,” and with a show of hands added “It’s unanimous, so the vote stands as it was on Thursday.”

Fender then said his understanding was that there had been discussions over the weekend with a local laboratory and doctor “who offered tests for all athletes and the band to screen for COVID, and I recommend we do this and make decisions with that road map.” He then asked if the testing would be at no cost.

Mazur replied that the costs would run through the student’s insurance, but that if the family insurance didn’t cover the cost, the district would pay for it. He said price was not firm yet, but that “They wanted $5 to $10 per test.”

Mazur said they would be using the nose swab test most people are familiar with.

Fender then said “the Supreme Court looked at sports as a privilege, not a right,” and asked if the district could make the test mandatory, as part of the required physical for sports participants. The solicitor said he would have to look into the legality of that proposal.

Without actually voting on it because it was not on the agenda, the board agreed to consider the discussion “informational” and to have Superintendent Dave Tosh further discuss the idea of testing for all athletes and band members, and to come back to the board with a firmer proposal.

In the meantime, sports practice will continue.