FMHS to limit attendance at Friday's football game

Posted

Vouchers given to band students, cheerleaders, and football players for two guest admissions each

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - At state officials continue to tighten restrictions on public gatherings, and area high schools wrestle with allowing fall sports to continue, Fort Madison School district officials are setting a limit on the number of fans at Friday's football game.

The game was supposed to be Senior Night, but due to the reduced attendance, that celebration is being rescheduled.

Lee County is now in the top 10 in the state in positive test percentages over the past 14 days closing in on 16%. In the past 24 hours, the county has seen 47 new positive cases.

Gov. Kim Reynolds reminded Iowans today that any social gathering with more than 10 people must ensure social distancing and in lieu of that order, the district decided to implement reduced attendance protocols.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the district outlined the plans for allowing the game to be held.

That release in it's entirety is below.

The Fort Madison Community School District has reviewed current positivity rates for Lee, Des Moines, and Henry counties which make up the FMCSD.

Both Lee and Des Moines counties have escalated to over a 15% positivity rate which places the counties in the top tier of community transmission in the state, according to the IDPH website coronavirus.iowa.gov.

In collaboration with the ​Lee County Health Department​ and the ​Iowa Department of Public Health​, large community gatherings are recommended to be restricted or cancelled. We must continue to keep the health and safety of our FMCSD community a priority and as a result will be issuing limited tickets for Friday evening’s home football game. Two vouchers will be distributed to each football player, cheerleader and marching bandmember who may distribute them to their respective guests.

Masks will be required for those in attendance and social distancing is expected. To be eligible to enter the stadium you must bring your voucher to the gate and purchase an admission ticket. Anyone who does not have a voucher will not be admitted. Please know that these decisions are not easy and we understand feelings of frustration.

We are grateful our students are getting this opportunity but it must happen under conditions that minimize risk to athletes and fans. We appreciate your continued support of our student athletes. We understand that everyone's passion and support stems from our student athletes participating in extracurricular activities.

As a reminder, as was the case last year, FMHS football games will be live streamed onYouTube at ​https://youtu.be/Qp_UMiy9J-Q​ and covered by Radio Keokuk https://streamdb8web.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/WCEZFM​ 1310 AM station KOKX so all community members can watch or listen to the game live.

FMHS senior night for Fall activities and athletics will be rescheduled for a future home game.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue as a district to navigatereactions to the COVID-19 pandemic.

attendance, Coronavirus, COVID-19, fans, football, Fort Madison High School, limited, Pen City Current

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