By Dana Hess, for the S.D. Newspaper Association
PIERRE — Winter fine arts programs in the state’s high schools will face a variety of changes and uncertainty due to the pandemic. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors approved a variety of recommendations from a task force of medical professionals and educators.
The task force recommends that the One-Act Play Festival be held in person rather than virtually.
“Our goal right now and our intention is to hold State One-Act in person,” said SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos. “We are going to put together a virtual option to have in our back pocket.”
While plans proceed to hold the festival in person, schools will also make arrangements to record their one-act plays in the event that the virus grows too rampant to hold the event in person.
All-State Band auditions will be held virtually, with the hope that the All-State Band event can still be held in person March 25-27, 2021.
Due to the lack of facilities that could accommodate social distancing for so many participants, the task force recommends that the state debate competition be held virtually.
Swartos said debate offers challenges for an in-person event because it involves the need for a facility with 30 to 40 classrooms at a school district that’s willing to host 20 to 30 competing schools.
“This one is probably much more likely to go virtual,” Swartos said.
Decisions about some fine arts events have not yet been made. Among those awaiting decisions are All-State Band, All-State Jazz Band and All-State Chorus and Orchestra.
“We’re going to take a little bit more time to see where the situation goes in our state,” Swartos said.
