LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – An email from Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Executive Director Mark Uhl to athletic directors at public schools statewide on Monday announced the approval of air quality guidelines for schools during the upcoming season.
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“These guidelines use the Air Quality Index (AQI) measurement to help schools make decisions about outdoor activities, practices, and contests,” the email stated.
An MHSAA committee drafted the guidelines and released a statement which reads, in part, “A valid and reliable standardized national air quality resource is the National Weather Service (NWS) Air Quality Forecast System. This system provides constant monitoring of ozone, particulate matter, and pollutants with accurate and advanced notice to prevent the adverse effects of decreased air quality. The key component of the standardized air quality resource is the NWS Air Quality Index (AQI). The AQI is reported as a single number based on a scale of 0 to 500 with 0 being completely safe and 500 indicating the most hazardous levels of air pollution.”
In addition, the recommendations state that monitoring of AQI and conditions are best left to primary athletics health care providers like “athletic trainers, school nursing staff, [and] team physicians.” It states AQI levels above 150 should spur consideration of shortening, modifying, or rescheduling an activity or moving it indoors.
The MHSAA committee also recommends AQI levels above 200 should lead to outside events being rescheduled, postponed, or canceled.
MHSAA Communications Director Geoff Kimmerly told Michigan News Source that it has received numerous inquiries from school communities and superintendents who requested guidance on managing outdoor activities when it comes to AQI.
“We published these today because a policy like this requires approval by our Executive Committee, and that committee met this morning for the first time this school year,” Kimmerly told Michigan News Source. “This is also the first day of practice for Fall 2023 high school sports, and we introduced this proposed policy at the start of the meeting and sent it to our schools immediately after it was approved.”
Kimmerly also said the numbers mentioned in the MHSAA guidelines are similar to what other states follow and the EPA’s recommendations.
