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Holidays, COVID-19 pause South Shore sports
Basketball hopes to resume with new year
By STEVE JACKSON
South Shore public schools, along with all other schools in the Hillsborough County School District, are on a winter break from Dec. 21 until Jan.4, 2021.
All schools, in general, have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and several athletic programs have canceled or postponed games originally scheduled in December.
Lennard High had one reported covid-19 case involving a basketball player in mid-December. The Longhorns have scrambled to re-schedule most of the postponed basketball games for sometime in January. Coach Will Gilford’s Longhorns, boys, as well as girls, expect to be out of quarantine for regular-season games the first week of the new year. Strawberry Crest comes calling Jan. 5. The Horns travel to Wharton the next evening and then return home for a Jan. 8 game with new-kid-on-the-block, Sumner High.
Coach Milton Clifton of Riverview High reported last week that the Sharks basketball program, due to covid-19, has paused basketball games in December and hopes to re-schedule sometime in January. Games with Plant and Armwood were scratched last week due to COVID-19 outbreaks at those two high schools. Riverview was originally set for a three-day holiday tourney in Zephyrhills, but that has yet to be confirmed. The Sharks original schedule includes a home game with King High on Jan. 6.
The 1-7 Spoto boys game with Plant City last week was canceled due to COVID-19 in the Plant City program. Coach Katherine Lee’s girls played, beating Plant City 52-35. The Spartans host Sumner boys and girls Jan. 5. After a visit to Tampa for games with Freedom, Spoto returns home for boys and girls games with Jefferson High Jan. 8.
East Bay boys, under Coach Dell Chambers, are not scheduled to play at home until Jan. 19 against Hillsborough High. The 2-4 Indians are tentatively entered in a three-day holiday basketball tournament in Hernando County over the first weekend in 2021, followed by road games against King, Leto and Brandon.
Sumner, Riverview top covid victims in South Shore county schools
District posts daily count
By STEVE JACKSON
Hillsborough County Public Schools has created a COVID-19 Data Dashboard to inform parents, students, staff and the community about the spread of coronavirus in county schools. The dashboard, which changes daily, can be found at HillsboroughSchools.org/reopening/dashboard.
The COVID-19 Data Dashboard will be updated automatically every four hours from 7a.m. to 7p.m. seven days a week. Schools impacted by COVID-19 cases are listed, along with the number of employees and students.
The HCSD vows to remain transparent as it monitors the number of COVID-19 cases in Hillsborough public schools.
The HCSD reported 325 new COVID-19cases from Dec. 12 until Dec. 18, when the winter break started. Classes resume Jan. 4. Since county schools started for fall on Aug. 31, the Hillsborough district has reported 2,507 COVID-19 cases for faculty, staff and students. Plant High in Tampa tops the district with a total of 84 cases, 76 of those students, since school started. School district offices have reported 92 cases.
District data shows 1,553 students and 954 staff and faculty reported with COVID-19 as of Dec. 21. In South Shore, the numbers reflect Riverview High with 26 students and 11 faculty/staff having had COVID-19. Sumner High stats are 31 students and 10 faculty/staff. Other reports since the start of school this past August put East Bay High with 13 students and 11 faculty/staff affected. Spoto High is close behind with 12 students and 10 faculty/staff on the COVID-19 list. At Lennard, the district report has eight students and eight faculty/staff among the COVID-19 count. Newsome reported six faculty/staff and 68 students hit with COVID-19.
Other data on the county school district list, with faculty/staff first and students second, include Waterset Charter one and two, Creekside Charter zero and three, SLAM at Apollo Beach one and four. Among area elementary schools COVID-19 reports are Eisenhower 13 and 11, Shields 10 and six, Gibsonton five and eight, Thompson four and three, Ruskin one and seven.
Ironically, the Hillsborough School District has recently initiated a public relations campaign with the purpose to convince home-schooled students and charter school students to enroll in county public schools. Also targeted are current virtual or distance learning students as the HCSD seeks to tell them they would be better served inside school buildings.
