Highlands School Board reversed course Monday and voted unanimously to immediately resume winter sports.

The decision came after a roughly two-hour discussion in which parents and students asked the board to reconsider allowing winter sports — basketball, wrestling and swimming — to take place, and board members debated whether it could be done safely in light of the covid pandemic.

In addition to following all safety guidelines and protocols, no spectators or parents will be allowed, and masks will have to be worn at all times, except for swimming. Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said the first confirmed report of a violation will result in that sport being canceled.

Mawhinney said there had been reports during fall sports of coaches and students not wearing masks.

“I am all about protecting our students and our staff and our community,” she said. “If the board is going to go out on a limb to do this, we are going to hold everyone accountable.”

The district had announced that all sports and extracurricular activities were being suspended while students were moved to fully remote instruction from Dec. 1 through Jan. 15.

Parents and students addressing the board noted that surrounding districts are allowing sports to proceed even if their classes were being held remotely. Athletic Director Drew Karpen said PIAA officials said they would not delay the season.

The wrestling season starts first, on Dec. 16, followed by basketball on Dec. 17 and 18, with swimming beginning Jan. 7, said Shawn Bennis, a high school principal and basketball coach.

Board member Debbie Beale made the motion for winter sports to resume, noting the impact of the cancellation on students’ ability to get scholarships and impacting students considering attending a military academy.

“We need to rethink what we’re doing to our children. It’s time to take a look at the other side of this covid issue,” she said.

“I am concerned about the mental health in this community,” she said. “We are not a community of wealth. There isn’t all the support systems here in this community for a lot of children and we know that. A coach … is a father or mother figure to some of these children in this community. I am very concerned for the mental health of the children right now.”

Although all board members voted to approve resuming winter sports, some, including Laura Butler, initially expressed reservations and opposition to doing so.

“How can we say we can do sports but we can’t put these kids in school?” Butler said, adding that she can’t see how students could be six feet apart and wearing masks while wrestling and playing basketball.

“It’s an airborne disease. It’s a pandemic. We really need to think about the health and safety of these kids,” she said.

Board member Kristie Babinsack said, if the district says it can’t keep students safe in buildings for classes, how can it justify bringing them back after school to play sports.

“It just doesn’t make sense for me,” Babinsack said, adding that hers is a sports family. “I have to put their safety ahead of what they want to do.”

Board members said they were also concerned about protecting the district’s employees and staff, with Nicole Kocon saying the district has no substitutes. The district’s liability, and potential for being sued, was also a concern.

“I don’t want to be personally liable for someone’s life,” Butler said. “As a board member, that makes me very uncomfortable.”

School physician Dr. Kultar Shergill said the decision to go to remote classes and cancel winter sports was based on the increase in covid cases in Allegheny County, which has gotten worse since then.

“Unfortunately, that’s the reality. It’s going to get much worse in the coming weeks,” he said, adding that he didn’t know a way to bring sports back safely.

In asking the school board to allow winter sports to resume, Rebekah Young, a Highlands junior from Brackenridge, said students are struggling with classes and use sports as an outlet.

“A lot of us need some sort of escape,” she said. “Basketball is an escape for myself, at least.”

Varsity wrestling coach Grant Walters said he worries what students are doing without sports, which he said keeps them off the streets and out of trouble.

“These kids really need this,” he said. “They need the opportunity to play.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)