Could Kentucky education board change KHSAA decision? No, says education commissioner.

Days after Gov. Andy Beshear appeared to give high school sports the final word on whether they could try to begin play this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, confusion over a special Kentucky Board of Education meeting on Friday seemed to put the question in doubt.

The Kentucky Board of Education will meet at noon Friday to possibly urge the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to develop “alternative options for high contact fall sports” currently allowed to start practices, according to documents. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Kentucky Department of Education’s YouTube channel.

A report on Twitter Wednesday night by WPSD-Paducah sports anchor Adam Wells touched off a whirlwind of concern.

“BREAKING: I have been told by a very reliable source that the Kentucky Department of Education will be holding a specially called meeting Friday to discuss the KHSAA’s decision to play fall sports. Source said the KDE is aiming to overturn the decision to play,” Wells reported.

After a social media campaign Thursday morning encouraged people to email and call KDE offices and KBE board members, Toni Konz Tatman, the department’s interim chief communications officer clarified that canceling the KHSAA’s decision is not on Friday’s agenda and that their offices had been receiving threats.

“FYI: Cancelling or postponing the high school football season (or any other fall sport) is NOT on the agenda for tomorrow’s KBE meeting. There are a lot of rumors swirling around on this and we have received threatening phone calls this morning. Not OK,” Tatman Tweeted. Tatman said KDE received about 12,000 phone calls between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday.

Later Thursday, interim education commissioner Kevin Brown issued a statement declaring that the possibility of canceling fall sports would not be part of the deliberations.

“I want to correct some misinformation that is being spread across social media and news outlets. The Kentucky Board of Education will not be considering canceling sports seasons at its special meeting Aug. 28 ... , ” Brown’s statement read. “The KHSAA is the designated agent of the KBE and its authority will be respected, yet the board still has a moral obligation to review matters that could affect the health and safety of students. This is why I recommended the meeting take place. To do otherwise would place the KBE members in a position of ignoring their obligation to oversee the ‘management and control of the common schools and all programs operated in these schools.’”

The KHSAA’s decision Aug. 20 permitted practices for football, soccer, volleyball, field hockey, cross country, cheer and dance to begin this week. Golf, as a low-contact, low coronavirus risk sport, has been allowed to play its normal schedule.

The issue of whether or not Kentucky student athletes can play fall sports amid the pandemic — and increases in child COVID-19 cases — has been controversial. Students and their parents rallied in Frankfort and Lexington this week for the right to play.

The Kentucky Board of Education has regulatory authority over the KHSAA. Before the KHSAA Board of Control’s decision Aug. 20, Commissioner Julian Tackett said whatever options they chose for moving forward would still need the approval of the governor, the Department of Public Health, and the state Department of Education, which is governed by the KBE.

“Nothing today is absolute, final in terms of all criteria, but we are hoping to define the season,” Tackett told the KHSAA board last week.

Tackett will be the first presenter at the KBE meeting Friday to go over a draft of the KHSAA’s full guidance on resuming play, which was published on its website late Wednesday. It includes parameters for practice, game play and fan attendance, which will be limited to no more than 50 percent capacity (and sometimes less) because of the pandemic.

Although he expressed misgivings and said he didn’t agree, Beshear said Monday he would allow high school sports to move forward this fall under the plan adopted by the athletic association. Beshear admonished school districts to be mindful of the health and safety of their student athletes.

Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack was part of that announcement and presented a number of warnings about moving forward with sports. Stack will discuss guidance and recommendations at the KBE meeting.

The KBE will also hear discussion by local superintendents on “district concerns about the safety of high contact fall sports.”

The Fayette County Board of Education on Monday accepted its district athletic director’s recommendation to allow high school teams to play in accordance with the recently adopted guidelines from the athletic association. Jefferson County’s school board also decided to allow fall sports under a modified schedule over the recommendations of its superintendent.

District AD Robbie Sayre recapped Fayette’s team statistics from more than a month of conditioning over the summer under coronavirus guidelines. With 1,681 athletes and thousands of workouts, there have been only 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases and none of those were connected to the workouts themselves, Sayre said. They all came from external activities.

This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 8:05 AM.