On December 8th, 2020, the Lawrence High School community was made aware that the Lawrence Board of Education and Superintendent Ann Pederson have cancelled all athletics for the 2020-2021 school year. We were told that this is due to COVID-19 and safety concerns. The teachers of Lawrence are told every morning that they have the safest buildings in the county due to current protocols in place. Not a single board member has a child that attends a public school in our district. This is simply another example of how they do not have the best interest of our student-athletes in mind. Lawrence is the only school in all of Nassau County that has had sports shut down before the government has come to their conclusion. 

The board and Dr. Pederson have taken away future opportunities of our student-athletes. Many Lawrence locals are saddened and extremely upset about this decision and with everything going on, the sports seasons were a glimmer of hope that many of us had to still feel as if we can have a normal school year. Lawrence has some of the most successful sports programs in New York for the past couple of decades and now is not the time to stop. Many students of our community come from low-income households. For many of these students, sports can be their only avenue towards achieving a higher education. This is a decision that must be reversed. This decision will have a negative impact on the students of the Lawrence Community that will affect them for the rest of their lives.