Lansing School District Cancels All Fall Sports

Lansing School District announced their plans for school this year, and it includes the cancellation of all fall sports for 2020.

Lansing Schools announced that they would start the year 100% online, which is no surprise. The part that has gotten the biggest reaction is that they also decided to cancel all extra curricular activities in the fall.

Everyone knew that this was a possibility, and not just in Lansing. I've talked to many teachers and coaches from all around Mid-Michigan, and all of them are prepared for fall sports to be called off at their schools. Lansing is just the first school to make the official announcement without being forced to. They explained the decision in a press release saying;

I know how disappointing the cancellation of sports and extra-curricular activities may be for students, coaches and parents, but the school district must make decisions moving forward that makes safety our top-priority. We initially were optimistic and had a timetable and protocols ready for the safe return to school including sports and extra curricular activities, but at this moment we made the tough decision to cancel until further notice to be safe

Obviously nobody, including the schools, want any extra curricular activities to be cancelled. The school officials will definitely be facing backlash from parents and players, but this is a time when it's best to err on the side of safety. The Lansing School District is scheduled to start full online learning on August 31st.

The bigger ramifications of this announcement are going to be coming in the next couple of weeks. When it comes to a tough decision like this, nobody really wants to be first. Now that Lansing has broken the seal, I expect a few more schools to jump on board and cancel their fall activities as well. The schools that don't cancel might not have a choice later in the year if Coronavirus cases spike again in Michigan.