MidHudson News is reporting the state Education Department August 12, recommended school districts cancel high-risk sporting events in areas where there are high transmission levels of COVID-19 unless all participants are fully vaccinated. The sports recommendations were included in the department’s school reopening guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year. Sports considered to be higher risk are encouraged to cancel their seasons if the schools are located in counties with a high rate of new COVID cases.  The majority of Hudson Valley counties are currently considered to have high transmission rates; however, in Columbia and Greene counties, the CDC puts the transmission rate at one level below, or "substantial." The state considers sports such as football, volleyball and competitive cheering or dance to be higher risk. Republican Assemblymember Colin Schmitt of New Windsor is opposed to the new guidance. “I fought the Cuomo administration vigorously to ensure our students have the ability to get back to their interscholastic sports earlier this year and we were victorious. With a new governor coming into office, I find it troubling that one of the first actions would be to once again cancel some school sports for our kids,” Schmitt said Read more at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.