The Mascenic Regional School Board unanimously agreed not to allow youth recreational basketball to use school facilities during its meeting Monday night.
All five members of the board agreed the priority for the district at the moment should be education and reducing risks leading to having to return to fully remote learning, after returning to an in-person model on Jan. 19.
Winter sports for the district have been ongoing, including basketball. Community member and volunteer Josh Alix presented a plan to the district which included a cleaning plan following each use of the facilities.
“We have to focus on education,” School Board member Michael Pellerito said.
“We just got in-person up and going,” agreed School Board member Tom Falter. “There will be a time, it just isn’t now.”
The board agreed that this wasn’t a blanket refusal, noting that there may be a time in the future where the district could open facilities to youth sports or other activities from outside the district, but said the current situation was too fragile to risk. One issue several board members pointed to was the precedent allowing one outside group would set.
Other athletic groups as well as organizations have used school facilities in the past, and the board said it would be unfair to make an exception for one group without allowing all of them.
Alix asked the board if the district continually turns down the request for use of the facilities, if there was a quantifiable measure of when outside organizations might be allowed to use them once again, but the board did not discuss that issue.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.