Following a contentious school board meeting that lasted well into Monday night, the Orange County Board of Education voted to continue high school sports in Hillsborough despite recent health department recommendations to close “high risk” sports programs.

The school board met to vote on a proposal to temporarily halt high school sports, including football, after scathing reports by the Orange County Health Department and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The Orange County report recommended sports with high risk of transmission, including football, basketball, wrestling and cheerleading, be temporarily halted for two weeks between September 14 and September 30. Once those sports returned, the department also recommended the cessation of concessions at games, as well as indoor and outdoor mask mandates for fans and athletes.

While these sports programs will continue as scheduled, the board voted to limit attendance to two spectators per player for the next two weeks. The high schools affected by this order are Orange High and Cedar Ridge High in Hillsborough.

Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver said she appreciates these newly-enacted safety protocols.

“I just want to really offer my support to the Orange County Board of Education,” Weaver said. “They’ve got such a difficult job and they’re really trying to keep the schools open, keep the kids in the classrooms, keep folks safe. And I think they also really want kids to be able to participate in sports as safely as possible, knowing how important that is to so many kids and their families.”

The Orange County Health Department reports that 54 percent of football athletes in the school district are vaccinated, as well as 52 percent of cheerleaders. Four positive COVID-19 cases have been identified among Orange County high school athletes this year. On a state-wide level, between July 1 and September 2, the NCDHHS reports that 45 percent of all clusters in North Carolina middle and high schools are are from athletics teams.

Once the agenda for the Orange County School Board’s meeting went public Monday morning, protestors began to make their voices heard in Hillsborough and Efland. The public comment portion of the meeting lasted over an hour, and the meeting didn’t adjourn until 10:30 p.m.

The board eventually voted to implement the restrictions recommended by the county health department, but will continue playing for the time being, despite the recommendation of a temporary halt in action.

Orange High School is scheduled to play on the road at Western Alamance this Friday and at home on Friday, September 24. Cedar Ridge is not fielding a varsity football team this year due to low participation, but their junior varsity team will visit Person County this Thursday before visiting Orange on Thursday, September 30.

To view the full agenda of the school board meeting, click here. Click here to view the Orange County Health Department’s report, and click here to view the NCDHHS report.

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