Seneca Valley School Board met via video conference Thursday and approved a plan, detailed in a 40-page proposal, as student-athletes prepare to return to the campus for conditioning and workouts Monday with COVID-19 restrictions still in place.

The plan was put into effect with an 8-0 vote. Board member Leslie Bredl was absent.

SV athletic director Heather Lewis drafted the plan after referring to CDC and state guidelines and consulting with the district's coaches. It is now posted on the district's website, under the “Athletics” link.

For the next two weeks, athletes in the district will be limited to conditioning. The level of activity will progress from there.

“Our student athletes have been inactive or away from organized sports for about three months,” said Lewis. “You don't just flip a switch and get 'em going again. You have to physically reintroduce them to organized activity.

“That's what this plan addresses over the next seven weeks.”

That span will end with the beginning of fall sports practices, which are scheduled to start Aug. 17.

“No decision has been made one way or the other if the fall season is going to happen,” added Lewis. “What we have been released to do is to start limited activity.”

Doing that while the coronavirus remains a threat is the focus of the plan.

Athletes and coaches must arrive the first day with a completed COVID-19 questionnaire and will be subject to daily health screenings as well, conducted by athletic trainers.

If an athlete has already tested positive for the virus, a release signed by the treating physician will be required for him/her to return to activity.

Lewis explained that teams and athletes will be split up into small groups, or pods, which will help ensure social distancing.

“These groups will remain the same and if a student or staff member becomes COVID-positive, we'll have the mechanics in place to immediately go down the protocol of contact tracing,” said Lewis. “We will be able to communicate directly with all people in that small pod.”

The plan also includes a guideline for each individual sport regarding the use of equipment, face coverings, social distancing, etc.

“The coaches asked me, 'What are the rules and I'll make it work,'” said Lewis. “The coaches, athletic trainers, myself, the school board ... we're all on the same page with this. Everyone contributed.”

Every athletic site on campus that fields any type of activity will be thoroughly cleaned after each use.

“I can tell that the framework (for the plan) came from the CDC and PIAA directive,” said school board member Kathy Whittle as she addressed Lewis. “But you and your coaches also collaborated. What a tremendous job. It's very detailed.”

Board member Fred Peterson also lauded the effort, though he said cooperation is needed.

“We need (parents) to ensure the health and safety of our kids,” he said. “We gotta have parents who understand the limitations and restrictions ... parents who allow kids to stay home when they don't feel well and not push them out onto the field.”