Duluth Superintendent John Magas Clarifies Comments on Potential High School Sports Shutdown

Magas says he hopes that if a shutdown is required, there could be some flexibility when it comes to athletics.

DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth high school sports community is awaiting a decision to be made on the future of their seasons. That’s due to the fact that COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the Northland. Duluth superintendent John Maga spoke about the issue during Tuesday night’s school board meeting and while he’s all for keeping sports going it’s not as simple as people think.

“Even if the numbers are at 30, we wouldn’t plan on immediately shutting down atheltics. We would need to plan for transition look like. Make sure that we have clear guidance from the state and we’re hopeful that we can keep things open longer. It definitely would indicate that we’re not going to be shutting things down prior to the end of the weekend unless we’re explicitly told by the state that we need to,” Magas said.

Magas says he will be meeting Thursday with several health departments on the state and county level and he hopes that if a shutdown is required, there could be some flexibility when it comes to athletics.

“We would take a little time to make sure that we are assessing and we’re being cautious. We’re being careful and safe. But we’re also trying to allow for the athletics and activities that are students really appreciate,” said Magas.

According to St. Louis County Public Health, when the bi-weekly rate of cases is above 30 for three consecutive weeks, the mandate is that the county secondary public schools go to distance learning and with that comes the suspension of all sports and extra-curricular activities at that level.