BOISE, Idaho — The Southern Idaho Conference announced a new plan to allow some people to attend winter high school sports events on Thursday, which Boise School District officials said they will follow.
All members of the SIC, including schools in the Boise and West Ada school districts, agreed to the conference's plan that would allow two spectators for every one student-athlete participating in winter sports.
The plan was adopted after Idaho Gov. Brad Little and the Idaho State Board of Education issued a new safety order, according to the SIC.
"Our common goal as a conference is to make sure our students are healthy, able to access in-person learning, and able to participate in activities during this time of substantial community spread of COVID," SIC President Wendy Johnson said in a statement. "We appreciate that Governor Little shares our desire to minimize the spread of the virus, and we appreciate his leadership in keeping students at the center of the order."
The new safety order includes new guidelines on cleaning and sanitation of member school's facilities and new supervision rules, which the SIC said would increase the conference's staffing needs.
Johnson explained that each school's facilities are different and it will take time to follow the new order and find out how many more resources it will take to ensure the new guidelines are effective at keeping people safe.
The conference's plan would only allow two people to attend for each student-athlete for the home-team and would prioritize parents of students if the number were to expand. The SIC hopes to allow parents of the visiting team to attend as the winter sports season goes on.
Gov. Little's plan excludes wrestling tournaments where more than two teams are present.