Sports leagues excited for 'partial' return to Ottawa schools
English-language boards say community groups will have 'partial' access by end of November
Both of Ottawa's English-language school boards say they will partially reopen schools to community uses such as after-school sports by late November.
The restrictions on school access have hit the city's sports organizations particularly hard since they've had to find more expensive private alternatives for facilities, or cut back on how many people can participate.
So many of them are hanging on by a thread.- Marcia Morris, Ottawa Sport Council
Both the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) are moving up their reopening plans by at least six weeks.
In a statement, OCDSB spokesperson Darcy Knoll said the delay was in part due to the need to recruit additional part-time and evening staff for cleaning and checking proof of vaccination.
Knoll said the "partial reopening" has been moved up to Nov. 22 because the board will follow the City of Ottawa's cleaning protocols, plus all leagues must require users submit their vaccine status.
The public board will open its high school gyms and require participants be fully vaccinated — with a priority on permits for youth older than 12 and not-for-profit groups.
Elementary school gyms will remain closed to allow for COVID-19 vaccination clinics, as well as limited staffing, the board said in a statement.
The Catholic board said it will allow one group per night per rental space and also require users to submit their vaccine status.
The board will prioritize student uses followed by adult non-profit groups, and then for-profit adult groups, according to spokesperson Sharlene Hunter.
Schools 'core part' of league operations
The news is welcome for David Muddiman, president of Gay Ottawa Volleyball, who says his league had to cut teams' play time in half and increase fees.
"That is thrilling news," Muddiman said. "Being able to play at schools is a really core part of our operations of our league."
He said they already enforce their own vaccine mandate and would support staggered entry of schools so community users and students don't overlap in the hallways.
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Marcia Morris from the Ottawa Sport Council said the faster reopening will make a huge difference for the city's sports leagues, many of which have been dormant since March 2020.
"So many of them are hanging on by a thread," Morris said. "The sooner we can get back and we can get things started, the better for everybody."
Morris said a return of sports leagues will also be important for organizations vying to host provincial or national tournaments in February and March, which she calls key tourism drivers.
She said organizations have worked with Ottawa Public Health and the city to get back into municipal gyms and they have already learned how to handle proof of vaccination responsibly.
Morris noted more details, especially about scheduling, will be needed to determine how much space those partial openings will allow, but it will hardly be a full return to sport.
"We have far more demands than we have school gyms at 100 per cent capacity," Morris said.
Both English-language boards say they are in the process of contacting permit holders. The public board said it's prioritizing historic permit holders and will not accept new applicants at this point.