The Williamsport Millionaires hosted the mighty Harrisburg Cougars this past Tuesday. This game was a last-minute addition as Harrisburg originally said they were not going to play because of the pandemic. Both teams came in undefeated, and the Cougars needed a few more contests to be eligible for playoffs. Williamsport accepted their challenge. That was nice.

Harrisburg is the real deal, and they went on to win in an impressive fashion. The Millionaires hung tough for a half but eventually lost 41-0. Williamsport will need to regroup and look to prepare for the postseason. Obviously, this wasn’t the outcome they wanted, but it served as a nice tune-up. The Cougars are loaded, and they have tons of Division 1 talent. Playing teams like these will only make you better.

Kudos to the Port for scheduling this showcase. I wasn’t there in person, but I live-streamed — a big shout-out to Kevin Brown, who was filling in for Head Coach Chuck Crews while on quarantine. I also want to give some love to Avery Campbell and wish him a speedy recovery. Campbell suffered a serious injury and was loaded into an ambulance. He is hanging in and was transferred to inpatient rehab. Fingers are crossed, kid, and I hope to see you on Lycoming Creek here soon.

There was another event on campus that same evening. Are we ready to go back to school five days? That was the pending question. There was a very sparse crowd in the auditorium because this discussion wasn’t posted. Yes. The Williamsport Area School Board also locked horns on Tuesday. The score wasn’t as lopsided as the football game, but it was still rather disappointing. It was considered a draw after two hours of fireworks and testimony. Some chose to ignore the data and failed to look at the parents’ survey. The board even voted twice and had the same result after hearing some news from our Superintendent. Sorry kids. We are staying HYBRID.

Unfortunately, there was no live stream, either. We, the people, had to rely on updates on Facebook and Twitter. This was the first in-person meeting since COVID-19. There was no mention on any of the district’s social media platforms. That’s extremely disappointing. Several folks would have been in attendance if the word got out. I’m hearing it was a 4-4 tie because one school board member forgot to set her alarm. OK. I don’t know the exact reason. But seriously.

A few weeks back, I offered my personal thoughts on HYBRID LEARNING. I’m sorry, folks, but this isn’t working. I won’t go back to my reasoning, but it is tragically affecting our younger children. Our kids need to be in school five days per. Especially those at the elementary and middle school levels. Period. Williamsport and Montgomery are the only districts left. Everyone else is back to full time. This isn’t a political issue — common sense.

Here is some alarming data from Tuesday night’s meeting. These all came from the Williamsport Area School District’s slide show. Grades K-4 has had 416 absences compared to 40 for the same time as last year. Grades 5-8 have had 270 compared to 35. Ouch. Grades are suffering too, according to Dr. Tim. There are roughly 3,200 current course failures or incompletes at the middle school level. Not good. 65% of the parents surveyed last week would like to return to 5-day instruction. Hmm.

I will continue to support and pray for our beautiful students, caring teachers, and administration. These are tough times, but it is getting harder and harder with each passing day. Hopefully, there can be a compromise. I am not worried about Jensen. I am feeling for those little ones who won’t have a chance. I have nothing but love for WASD but come on, guys. I will go back to what I said this summer if our football team can host a game with a school who is 100 miles away. It should be safe to attend school five days a week. Look at the big picture. Cheers.