MISSOULA — With a unanimous decision, the Stevensville Public Schools Board voted to temporarily suspend all sporting activities due to a positive COVID-19 case in the school system.
The board voted in an emergency meeting on Wednesday evening. Sports are suspended until contact tracing is complete or the administration deems it safe to begin activities again.
The school announced on Wednesday that a student in the Stevensville Public Schools District tested positive for COVID-19, and the school closed for cleaning and opted for remote learning starting Thursday. The board also unanimously voted to extend remote learning through Monday to allow for contact tracing.
"We knew this was possible when we started the season and we're disappointed because we really had high hopes we'd finish the season (without suspension) at this point," Stevensville athletic director Chance Edman said. "It's some adversity we're facing and we're going to do whatever it takes to get through it. Sports are important for our kids and we want to make sure that we give them this experience, so we're going to do whatever it takes to make sure we can allow them to play."
Suspended sporting events have the possibility of rescheduling as well. Those contests that cannot be rescheduled will be listed as a no contest per Montana High School Association guidelines.
Stevensville was scheduled to host Missoula Loyola in soccer on Thursday and travel to Polson for volleyball. Then Friday Stevensville's football team was scheduled to play at Polson. No high school varsity events were scheduled for Saturday.
Depending how contact tracing goes and when sports can start back up, games early next week might also be affected. Stevensville is scheduled to host Frenchtown in soccer and Polson in a junior varsity football game on Monday and is also scheduled to travel to Hamilton on Tuesday for volleyball.
