• ASD acknowledges sports and activities are a significant part of the secondary school experience and produce many physical and mental health benefits for students.  
• While many of our secondary schools have more than 1000 students in the building on a daily basis when in full face-to-face operation, sports and activities naturally operate with much smaller student groupings.
• When intentionally scheduled by level (Varsity, JV, C), sports and activities can easily reduce student interaction to consistent groups of less than 50 students. 
• Sports are an “opt in” activity, not a graduation requirement; therefore, if a family has health concerns, they can choose not to participate, unlike school attendance that is required. 
• Under ASD’s summer contact mitigation plan, screening and distancing protocols were implemented and diligently followed by coaches. During this time, while individual positive cases of COVID-19 surfaced, there were no secondary positive cases, demonstrating that the mitigation protocols implemented by our coaches and athletes proved effective in limiting transmission.
• Youth sports organizations in our community have safely operated this summer, and continue to do so, with additional mitigation protocols in place.  ASD has partnered with several of these youth organizations to learn from their experience and to write mitigation plans that take into account the unique equipment and venues associated with each individual fall sport.
• The district has received an outpouring of correspondence from parents and students advocating for a high school fall sports season, and we are glad we are able to provide this opportunity. Whether we are able to move into regular practices with shared equipment and full contact, and whether we are able to host competitions this fall, will largely depend on the COVID-19 health status in the municipality in the coming weeks.
• The district is once again encouraging all community members to observe the Mayor’s health mandates to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 so our student athletes can enjoy the benefits of participating in school-related sports and activities this fall and eventually return to school in person.

• Case numbers per 100,000 people in census area
• Percentage of positive tests that have been administered in census area
• Census area trending up or down in their fourteen and seven-day averages
• Ability to have a safe mitigation plan for the sport or activity to prevent community spread
• Ability to control the number of spectators to avoid community spread
• State and Municipal guidance and mandates
• Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) guidance

1. ASD proposes to begin the previously delayed fall sports season Monday, August 17 to coincide with the week of school start.
2. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and health conditions in the Municipality of Anchorage, the District is currently operating in a high-risk condition. ASD will open the season by following guidelines for practice published for ASAA for high-risk, which limits participation to general conditioning. ASD will also continue to work with the Municipality, adhering to mandates included in the Mayor’s “4-week reset” plan.   
3. ASAA’s high-risk guidelines for practice include:
• Required screening for all participants;
• Required use of masks by coaches and by athletes when not engaged in vigorous activity
• Outdoor conditioning with 10’ distance maintained between all individuals;
• Visual indicators of proper distancing required;
• No sharing of equipment;
• Conditioning sessions scheduled at least 20 minutes apart to limit overlap between groups and allow for additional cleaning; 
• No competition
• Indoor facilities (proposed ASAA guidance);
  • Capacity to maintain 10’ distance between all individuals
  • Proper ventilation
  • Single entry/exit for regulating numbers and ensuring protocols

4. All programs will operate under sport-specific ASD mitigation plans. These plans will be posted to the ASD Sports & Activity website by August 17.

5. Students who wish to participate must register for a fall sport through their school of eligibility. Instructions for registering for fall sports can be found here.

6. Students who participate, even if the District remains in a conditioning-only status for the season, will be eligible to earn a PE waiver.

7. ASD remains hopeful that when the Municipality’s 4-week reset ends on August 30, the 14-day and seven-day average of new cases and the percentage of positive tests will be trending downward toward a medium-risk condition that will allow for opening up to full practices.

8. A revised competition schedule will be released for each sport when conditions allow full practices to resume.

9. The new competition schedule will not include any overnight travel and may limit competition to ASD schools playing locally against other ASD schools, depending on current conditions.

10. It is likely competition will resume without spectators or with the number of spectators significantly reduced (for example, a limit of two spectators per athlete).

11. ASD has installed camera systems in all high school gyms and in several football stadiums so that competition can be livestreamed. An attempt will be made to livestream events at other venues as well.