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The Wyoming Valley West school board agreed Monday morning to keep the previous vote on fall sports and extracurricular activities, meaning both will continue.
				There was no vote conducted on the agenda item approve/disapprove fall sports and extra curricular activities. Instead, the board members used a raise of hands on whether to accept the previous vote, which was tied 4-4. A tie meant the motion failed and reverted back to an earlier vote of 5-4 to have fall sports and extracurricular activities.
				The school board will also look into an offer from a laboratory in Kingston which is offering COVID-19 tests for student-athletes and band members for a small cost.
				The school district paused fall sports on Aug. 23, one day before the official start of fall practices. The school board met in executive session last Tuesday and set a formal vote for last Thursday.
				The board voted Thursday on whether to approve/disapprove fall sports and extra curricular activities and tied 4-4 with board member Gary Richards was absent. Solicitor Richard Goldberg said the tie resulted in the motion failing, but the meeting was cut off immediately and left confusion on what exactly that meant. Poor audio and video made it difficult to determine who voted which way.
				It was cleared up a short time later that a tied vote meant the motion reverted back to the previous vote to allow fall sports. After the meeting, superintendent Dave Tosh said the pause had been lifted, allowing teams to return to the practices.
				Board member James Fender also brought up Monday the possibility of having low-cost COVID-19 tests available for those involved in fall sports and band.
				&ldquo;Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to talk to a laboratory here in Kingston and a doctor who would offer test to all of our athletes and band to make sure we could screen for COVID,&rdquo; Fender said. &ldquo;I think this is an excellent idea. My recommendation is we do this and then we make decisions based on driving with the road map rather than speculation.&rdquo;
				Fender said there would be no &ldquo;out of the pocket&rdquo; cost for parents. Board president Joseph Mazur said the lab asked for people with insurance use it to pay for the test. The school district would pay for the test for those that didn&rsquo;t use their insurance or have none.
				Mazur said the cost would be $5-10 per test, and the details of where the tests would be administered needed to be worked out. They would be swab tests.
				&ldquo;That being said, I think we&rsquo;re the only school in Pennsylvania that is able to test their athletes,&rdquo; Fender said. &ldquo;I think this is a safety thing. What we&rsquo;re doing is what we&rsquo;re supposed to be doing, keeping our kids safe.&rdquo;
				Since testing was not on the advertised agenda, there couldn&rsquo;t be a vote. The board would need to present the testing plan to the school administration before proceeding.
				Because the meeting was conducted virtually, any questions should be submitted through the school district website for a response.

Wyoming Valley West school board allows fall sports; COVID-19 tests possible