Nassau School District Sues To Have Fall Sport Season Reinstated

MASSAPEQUA, NY — The Massapequa School District filed a lawsuit against the organization that oversees Nassau County's high school sports in an effort to have the fall season reinstated, after it was postponed to January 2021.

The lawsuit was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court by the district against Nassau County Section VIII, the governing body of the county's school sports. In late August, the Section VIII Superintendents Board voted unanimously to cancel the fall sport season and push it back to January 2021, citing the health and safety of students during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said that the season would be delayed until Sept. 21, but that sports could proceed after that.

"Effectively cancelling the fall sports season and postponing interscholastic athletics until at least January 2021 poses significant harm to the mental, emotional and physical well-being of students who are denied the opportunity to participate in sports," the lawsuit reads. "It also places many of these Section VIII scholar athletes at a competitive disadvantage in gaining college admission and securing scholarships because they will be unable, in comparison to their peers elsewhere in New York State, to present a full record of athletic achievement in advance of their college admission deadlines."

The Section VII Superintendents Board is a group of five superintendents of Nassau County school districts, who are elected to the position annually. But the lawsuit alleges that the board did not have the authority to unilaterally make the decision to cancel sports. Instead, under the Section VIII governing constitution, the lawsuit says that the decision would have to have been made by an "electronic post card vote" and would have to be approved by a majority of the 50 school districts in Nassau County that are part of Section VIII.

The Section VIII constitution says that the post card vote must be held "on issues that have major implications for member schools."

"Here, the determination not to commence interscholastic athletics on Sept. 21, 2020 and to effectively cancel the fall sports season is the single most major and impactful determination that Section VIII can make," the lawsuit reads. "This is not hyperbole. This is the threshold determination from which all other determinations stem."

The lawsuit seeks to have the Section VIII decision overturned and to allow sports to commence in Nassau on Sept. 21.

Under Section VIII's plan, the fall sport season would be pushed back to Jan. 2021, and districts would play the fall, winter and spring sport seasons between January and June.

Nassau County was the only one in the state to cancel the fall sport season. The decision caused a quick and loud backlash from parents and politicians, and a day after the announcement was made, Section VIII said it would reassess the decision before Sept. 21.

But even if Section VIII's decision is overturned by a court, not all sports could start on Sept. 21. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which oversees all sports in the state, announced this week that football, volleyball and competitive cheer would be pushed back and begin on March 1, 2021. They are deemed high-risk sports.

This article originally appeared on the Massapequa Patch