GALION— Galion City Schools Athletic Director Kyle Baughn has worked collaboratively with the Galion Health Department, administration, coaches, and parents to develop a plan to reopen athletic facilities.

Phase One will begin June 1 and last 14 days.

Phase Two of the plan could be in place as early as the following 14 days.

“Mr. Baughn has worked extremely hard in developing a plan to get our student-athletes back . He has been a vocal advocate of bringing our kids back and getting them engaged in any type of activity so I know this will be a special day for him,”future superintendent Jennifer Allerding. “His concern for these athletes goes beyond winning games., He wants our kids back as we know our kids are struggling mentally and they want to be with the coaches that care for them. We are fortunate to have an athletic director that cares and advocates for our kids as much as he does.”

During Phase One in pre-workout/contact screening, coaches and all those participating must complete the COVID-19 monitoring log before each session. All responses will be recorded and stored for contact tracing purposes if a COVID-19 infection does occur. If someone has positive responses, they must stay home and contact their medical provider, and they should not oversee or participate in any workouts during Phase One. With indoor instruction, coaches are required to wear a cloth face covering, but will not have to wear a covering outside if they stay at least 6 feet away from the students. Students will not be required to wear a mask.

For limitations on gatherings, there will be no locker rooms open in Phase One, so students will be asked to report to workouts in the proper gear and should immediately return home to shower. The workouts will be done in “pods,” where it will be the same 5-10 people working out together, and those individuals must keep a 6-feet distance between one another that will be set up by coaches. There is to be no physical contact whatsoever unless for safety purposes. The workouts will be done in sessions and there will be time allotted for individuals to leave the fields/facilities before the next group comes in. There will be no congregation before or after practice, and no extra spectators will be permitted.

For facilities cleaning, physical activity, and equipment, hard surfaces, equipment, and items related to the activity must be sanitized before, during, and after every event. If equipment can’t be sanitized during, then only participants of a single pod will use the item related to the activity. All individuals will wash their hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap or use hand sanitizer before and after touching any surfaces and/or participating in a session.

Students are required to wear shoes and shirts at all times, there is to be no athletic equipment shared, no water bottles shared, no open drinks or hydration stations, no sunflower seeds or spitting, and no food in the training area. Everything will be cleaned every single day.

During Phase Two all of the same stipulations apply for pre-workout/contact screening as noted above.

For limitations on gatherings, the only change during Phase Two is that locker rooms may be used, but there must be 6 feet between each person.

For facilities cleaning, physical activity, and equipment, the only change is that lower risk sports practices may resume, and modified practices may begin for moderate risk sports/activities.

“I have worked in conjunction with the Health Department, OHSAA, NFHS, CDC, and Responsible Restart Ohio to be able to bring some of our student athletes back so that they can safely begin to return to practice,” Baughn said.

The school district and the Ohio High School Athletic Association will continue to work in collaboration with Governor DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Husted and the Ohio Department of Health to adhere to any and all state orders and/or recommendations.