SC high school teams that break COVID-19 safety rules can now get fined, penalized
There are now consequences for not adhering to the South Carolina High School League’s COVID-19 safety guidelines.
In a meeting on Thursday, the SCHSL’s executive committee passed a motion that made its current and future coronavirus safety guidelines into “requirements.” Thus, any school that does not follow the safety rules applied to summer workouts — including players practicing social distancing, players not sharing sport-specific equipment, coaches wearing masks and other standards — can be subject to penalties administered by the League.
“The guidelines as presented were just recommendations,” SCHSL Commissioner Jerome Singleton said in an online press conference with reporters after the meeting. “There was no requirement that (schools) had to follow it because they were just recommendations. The change is to make all those guidelines actually required by the school to follow.
“(Schools) can be more restrictive, but they can’t be any less restrictive than the guidelines that were sent out.”
These requirements, the league’s executive committee voted, are now subject to penalties. If a school violates any of the SCHSL safety rules, then the league will treat it as if an illegal practice has occurred.
According to the SCHSL’s rules and regulations, treating each COVID-19 summer workout violation as an illegal practice would mean the following:
One day in violation means a $500 fine and the team loses one day of practice and is limited to one preseason scrimmage.
Two days in violation means a $500 fine, and the team loses two days of practice, is limited to one scrimmage, cannot host any events and cannot be the home team during the playoffs.
Three days in violation means a $500 fine, and the team loses three days of practice, is limited to one scrimmage, cannot host any events and cannot participate in the playoffs.
S.C. high schools are still in Phase 1 of summer workouts — weightlifting and conditioning — with no set date to roll out the next phase. There is discussion of a Phase 1.5 that would allow for shared use of equipment such as footballs and basketballs. Not every district in the state is allowing workouts, with some not set to start until late July.
When asked if a new enforcement structure would be implemented — with the league’s coronavirus safety measures now being requirements — Singleton said extensive enforcement by the league office itself is challenging.
“We’ve got over 200 high schools and another 200 middle schools,” Singleton said. “There’s no way that we can be everywhere. We really expect our schools to police themselves and police each other. It’s spelled out clearly what the penalty would be for an illegal practice, and these will be recognized as an illegal practice.”
Singleton said his office will send communication out to the SCHSL member schools and make them aware that “what was traditionally looked at as recommendations” will now become minimum requirements.
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The executive committee also voted Thursday that any new changes to the coronavirus guidelines can be implemented by a task force within the SCHSL office — but doesn’t have to be approved by the executive committee.
In other words, per Singleton: “It gives me and my staff the authority to make them into requirements.”
“Now, once it comes out from the task force that I’ve created and is vetted by our staff... then it becomes required, as opposed to going before the executive committee to get approval for it.”
The move effectively absolves the executive committee from any decisions made in relation to summer workouts coronavirus safety.
“Anything that is crafted by the task force, I have the authority to say, ‘Yes, we will go forward with that,’” Singleton said. “Or, I can question it, modify it, reject it, or approve it. And then we can send it out to the membership as representation of the executive committee through me.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 3:35 PM with the headline "SC high school teams that break COVID-19 safety rules can now get fined, penalized."
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