Pa. lawmakers look to put pandemic school sports decisions in hands of parents and districts

J.D. Prose

Coming after Gov. Tom Wolf’s surprise recommendation that school districts shutdown sports until January, two Republican state legislators unveiled bills on Tuesday that they said would return decision-making authority to parents and districts.

“The benefits of our children participating in these activities is undeniable,” said state Rep. Mike Reese, R-59, Westmoreland County, during a Harrisburg press conference in which he argued that student-athletes have better grades, test scores and attendance, and expanded college opportunities.

Reese has introduced House Bill 2787, which he said would allow schools to make the decision about sports and other extracurricular activities, as well as allowing spectators at games.

“Not the governor, not us, but those locally elected officials on the ground,” Reese said. “This is not a novel concept.”

The football stadium is seen at East Stroudsburg High School North in Bushkill in March 2020. The PIAA voted to begin fall sports on time, starting with heat acclimation for football on Aug. 10.

Wolf’s announcement, coming at the end of a press conference, “created shockwaves” across the state and blindsided the PIAA, Reese said. “We need to let (students) play as best they can,” he said.

The second legislative piece, House Bill 2788, has been introduced by state Rep. Jesse Topper, R-78, Bedford County. That bill would give families the option to have students remain at their grade level for another year in light of the impact on education, sports and other activities in the 2019-20 school year and the coming year.

Topper said schools need to reopen with in-person instruction and offer options for sports, music, science and any extracurricular pursuits. “If these options are not available to our students and our families then we no longer have the ability to call that public education,” he said.

“As adults, we must not allow fear to paralyze us and keep children from their goals and their dreams,” Topper said.

State Rep. Seth Grove, R-196, York County, who has filed Right-to-Know requests seeking the information Wolf used to make his sports recommendation, criticized the administration for lacking data relevant to Pennsylvania.

“It’s unfair, it’s unprofessional and that’s why we need to do these bills to return power back to parents, back to local school boards,” he said.

Rep. Mike Reese, R-59, Westmoreland County, has introduced House Bill 2787, which he said would allow schools to make the decision about sports and other extracurricular activities, as well as allowing spectators at games.

J.D. Prose writes for the USA Today Network Pennsylvania State Capitol Bureau. Reach him at jprose@timesonline.com.