Homewood-Flossmoor High School football and girls water polo sports teams are now in quarantine after several players tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
In a letter to parents, District 233 Superintendent Von Mansfield and Principal Jerry Anderson reported: “Throughout the last two weeks, unfortunately, we have seen an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases on campus among students who are participating in athletics.”
The shortened football season had six games on the calendar. H-F played four games with a split of two wins and two losses, before canceling its game for Friday and the following week. The 69 team members and one staff member are following the 14-day protocol for quarantine, said Jodi Bryant, H-F director of public relations.
The girls water polo program was quarantined starting the week of April 5 “due to a positive case on the team, which led to an additional four positive cases and 18 quarantines,” the letter said.
The team’s schedule extends through mid-May.
Bryant said next week H-F’s hybrid learning model will have about 1,200 students on campus. H-F started back with in-person instruction on March 2 with students divided into four groups. By March 14, the four groups were combined into two. As of Tuesday, April 20, the two groups will be combined into one.
“We will continue to follow all safety protocols that have been recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education to ensure a safe learning and extra-curricular environment for our students and staff,” the administrators told parents.
H-F makes its COVID-19 metrics available at the COVID-19 Dashboard on the high school’s website at hfhighschool.org.