Middle school basketball season suspended as parents fear return to remote learning

The Seattle Public School system announced Tuesday that they are temporarily suspending the middle school basketball ball season because of a rise in COVID cases in the state.

A spokesperson for Washington state’s largest public school district told The Post Millennial, “SPS winter middle school basketball is being postponed due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the greater Seattle area just prior to winter break.”

"The growth in number of cases triggered a DOH required increase in testing for participants, coaches, and team personnel. SPS will explore options for rescheduling the seasons and intends to resume these activities when we can fully comply with DOH requirements."

However, that may be only the beginning. According to an email obtained by The Post Millennial, which was sent to parents at the district’s Whitman Middle School said, "The District has postponed Middle School Athletics. At this time practices are also postponed. This information came directly from our Athletics Department and was a district decision. This was not a school based decision. Thank you for the support and patience."

The school included communication they claim to have received from Seattle Public Schools which only mentioned middle school basketball, but parents and students were left fearing more sports would be suspended.

Parents are also concerned this could be a harbinger of a return to remote learning.

On Tuesday,  Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, told KOMO News that there is no current plan to order remote learning statewide but individual districts might decide to implement it on their own.

"There’s nothing coming from my office or the governor’s office as I understand and this is going to be based on a local community by local community based on their spread, their geography (and) their density."

However, due to the amount of children being tested for COVID, which is required by many schools to return to the classroom from winter break, that action has skewed case numbers and now infants up to 19-year-olds make up 69 percent of all recent cases of COVID-19.

The Omicron variant, as variants before poses almost no risk to children. Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week on MSNBC, "The other important thing is that if you look at the children who are hospitalized, many of them are hospitalized with Covid, as opposed to because of Covid. What we mean by that: If a child goes to the hospital, they automatically get tested for Covid, and they get counted as a Covid hospitalized individual. When in fact, they may go in for a broken leg, or appendicitis, or something like that. So it is over counting the number of children who are are 'hospitalized with Covid' as opposed to because of Covid."

That has not deterred colleges from closing their doors and quarantining students.

Before Christmas, the University of Washington announced that most classes will be held online for the first week of the winter quarter.Western Washington University also said the first week of the winter quarter will be taught remotely with in-person instruction resuming Monday, Jan. 10. Seattle University announced Tuesday that it was extending virtual classes through Jan. 30.

Seattle Public schools also said, "Lack of staffing and financial resources to operate and fully comply with the guidelines and protocols – The impact of the new DOH testing requirement placed a significant strain our ability to safely offer middle sports at this time." Parents questioned why the public schools would be cash strapped when over $130 billion was doled out to schools across the country including those in Washington through the American Rescue Plan, specifically to ensure a safe reopening.

An expose by The Daily Wire found that much of the money was blown on Critical Race Theory-infused initiatives instead. Washington allocated the funds with a "...lens of educational equity."

Many teachers unions across the country have called for a return to remote learning. National Educators United, has ask people to sign a petition to President Joe Biden asking for a 2 week pause on in person education to slow the community spread.

Earlier this week, Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers union, praised Newark Public Schools in New Jersey for switching back to remote learning after the Christmas break.

Previously, the union was busted for lobbying and influencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on reopening schools.

On Tuesday, the US set new records for daily reported COVID-19 cases while the Biden administration struggled to cope with testing shortages, school closures and disruptions to the economy caused by the surging omicron variant and ongoing labor shortages.