RISD Athletes In Tug-Of-War As State And County Health Officials Issue Conflicting Orders On Workouts

Dallas TX

08 August, 2020

3:24 PM

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From The Lake Highlands Advocate: By Carol Toler August 8th, 2020 On July 16, Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang issued an order delaying in-person instruction until Sept. 8 and directing that all school-sponsored activities, including athletic workouts, be delayed until the first day of in-person classes. Since that day, the picture of which athletes get to practice – and who gets to decide – has gotten muddier for RISD students and their parents. A power struggle has developed, with state and county politicians duking it out on Twitter and Richardson ISD officials standing confused on the sidelines. Wildcat athletes have given up consulting authorities and taken their fitness futures into their own hands. Parents say the teens' unsupervised workouts run counter to COVID best practices. Huang's order was based on a 7-day average, at that time, of about 1,000 new cases per day and applied to Dallas County only. Collin and other nearby counties with fewer cases were under no such restrictions, and Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered that religious schools, such as Jesuit College Prep, did not have to obey. The problem for LHHS Athletic Coordinator Lonnie Jordan and other RISD officials is that RISD schools have Jesuit in their district and Collin County teams on their schedules. Read more at The Lake Highlands Advocate. The Lake Highlands Advocate is part of a chain of hyperlocal websites covering communities around Dallas.