Sacramento Top Officials Push For More Formal Process Following Elk Grove School District Closure
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Parents, coaches and players - mostly from Sheldon High School - packed a press conference held Sunday by Sacramento county leaders following the sudden announcement that Elk Grove Unified School District will close its schools for a week due to coronavirus concerns.
"Elk Grove Unified School District jumped the gun," Neketia Henry, a Sheldon High School parent, said. "They spread unnecessary fear and that was unacceptable."
Assemblymember Jim Cooper found out about the closure through the grapevine.
"Phone started blowing up, we were getting emails, people texting," Cooper said.
Elected leaders assembled before the crowd tried to assure the public future decisions will abide by California state guidelines that were released Saturday night.
"The decision here with Elk Grove was made in the middle of the night," Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. "There was some consultation. But, I think what we want is to assure the public of a bit more a formal process so that people know who exactly is going to be making the decision and on who's advice."
READ: State Health Officials Issue New School Guidance For COVID-19 Decision Making
The EGUSD decision threatened to forfeit a Sheldon high school basketball playoff run.
"I feel like our view wasn't really getting around to the board members," Xavier Brown, a Sheldon Boys' Basketball player, said. "But our voices are still being heard throughout the public especially."
"You can't second guess it. But we're going forward from here and how do we fix this," Cooper said.
But a ray of hope shined in hopes of getting the game back on. Doctor Peter Beilenson, who is the Sacramento County Public Health Director, said that officials would be working with California Interscholastic Federation to see if the game can still be played.
Elk Grove Unified told CBS13 that CIF had accepted the window of opportunity to postpone the Sheldon game until March 10. But, the players' involvement in the game is dependent on the results of coronavirus tests by the county health department.
The game is something parents, players and officials all want to see happen.
"Everything helps at this point. I mean the game has been taken from us," Brown said.