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High school head coaches, athletic directors meet with McLennan Co. commissioner about delay of fall sports

Close to 20 head coaches and AD's met with the county commissioner about their concerns with the health authority order to delay in-person school and sports.

WACO, Texas — High school head coaches and athletic directors from several McLennan County schools met with Commissioner Ben Perry Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the order issued by the Local Health Authority that would delay all fall sports until, at the earliest, Sept. 8, one football coach told 6 News.

The order, given by Dr. Farley Verner, delayed in-person classes and all school sponsored events, including sports. The order came after the University Interscholastic League had already released a schedule that would have allowed 1A through 4A schools to begin practices and games in August.

RELATED: High school football, other fall sports, delayed due to COVID-19, UIL says

Verner said the order was necessary to protect the public health based on the spread of COVID-19 cases. It also came just hours after the McLennan County Public Health District confirmed its director, Brenda Gray, had been terminated.

The move came as a surprise to many school districts and the heads of their athletic programs. School districts were given until Aug. 21 to come up with a plan that would not include in-person learning.

Connally Head Football Coach Shane Anderson said Perry told him he found out from a text at the same time the school districts did.

"I just think its important that everybody, not only the people that can make the decisions but the people that did make the decision can understand where we are at," said Anderson. "Not necessarily as coaches but educators."

Riesel Head Football Coach Keith Stifflemire said he appreciated the opportunity to meet with Perry.

"We wanted to make sure that the plan was put together to safely get our kids back involved for fall sports so there was some concerns with how the order was sent out," said Stifflemire. 

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