By Chris Parker
The Waynesville high school athletic programs are on pause until Aug. 31 after two high school students tested positive for COVID-19. The high school will start classes virtually on Aug. 25 as a result.
“It (COVID positives) was not within our sports athletics whatsoever. There was a case where we had some students in the high school that were participating in some different orientations. They tested positive yesterday when we were made aware. The contact tracing was just too widespread for the district be able to centralize it. As a precaution they just said we will push pause and start virtually and crank back up in two weeks and go from there,” Waynesville head football coach Joe Haynes said.
The pause means that Waynesville football won’t be traveling to Parkview for Week 1 on Aug. 28 or hosting Camdenton for Week 2 on Sept. 4.
“It is human nature. Everybody gets disappointed. You can have your five minutes of despair, but those five minutes are over. We have to stand up straight, and we have to press forward,” Haynes said. “For our high school kids, they have a week and a half to rest up and get their minds right. We start school virtually next week, so get your education lined out and get everything ready to go, so on August 31 we can crank back up and begin our preparations just a matter of days ago.”
The middle school athletic programs at Waynesville are still going as normal.
“Our middle school program is still intact, so all of our middle school coaches are going there. We are going to coach up our seventh and eighth graders for the next week and a half until we can crank back up on the high school campus,” Haynes said.
Rescheduling games within a football season is tough with little wiggle room within an already packed schedule featuring no scheduled bye weeks for the area’s teams.
“At this point that (rescheduling) is not something that we have even discussed. What we are going to do is take it one week at a time,” Haynes said. “For our case, it is Aug. 31 to practice and the next week to practice. Come Friday, Sept. 11 we look forward strapping up and going to Kickapoo and competing in that game.”
FULL RELEASE FROM THE SCHOOL
Waynesville High School traditional students, scheduled to be in the seated classroom, will start school virtually on Aug. 25 after the district was notified that two Waynesville High School students have tested positive for COVID-19. Due to the large number of students who were potentially exposed to these positive cases, the decision was made in consultation with the Reopening Task Force and the Pulaski County Health Department.
Traditional WHS students may obtain their Chromebooks and class-related materials on Friday, Aug. 21, and Monday, Aug. 24. Details about the pickup schedules will be announced on or before Thursday.
“Going virtual for students in grades 9-12 is an effort to help prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 in our community,” said Dr. Brian Henry, superintendent. “We are exercising an abundance of caution and meeting and exceeding recommendations.”
All high school sports practices and events will be cancelled until students return to the classroom. Waynesville Middle School practices and competitions will continue as scheduled.
At this time, WHS students are projected to return to the classroom on Aug. 31.
All traditional students in grades K-8 will attend school in person as planned. This only impacts the high school.
The Waynesville R-VI School District, in cooperation with the Pulaski County Health Department, has notified via email the parents of students who had close contact with the students. Those who came in close contact will be in isolation for 14 days. The district is making arrangements for drive-up testing on Thursday for the students who had direct exposure to the positive cases. Additional information on that testing opportunity will be forthcoming. Being in close contact does not necessarily mean that your child will become positive.
