LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fayette County Public Schools is pressing pause on most athletics and extra-curricular activities.

The only excpetion is the six high school football teams entering the KHSAA post season next week.

“We cannot ignore that the spread of COVID-19 continues to escalate,” said Fayette County Public Schools Chief of High Schools James McMillin. “We are seeing recording breaking positivity rates and positive cases across the state and our community.”

McMillin said the possibility of resuming the activities will be evaluated the week of Nov. 30.

“This is not a total cancellation. It just means all extracurricular activities and winter sports practices, conditioning sessions, and games are cancelled until further notice,” he said. “We are only making an exception for our football teams, because we don’t want them to miss the opportunity to compete for the state championship or take away our seniors’ final opportunity to play at the high school level.”

FCPS Superintendent Manny Caulk praised district and school leaders, athletic directors, coaches, advisors, students, and families for following safety protocols.

“Their vigilance has allowed us to practice, play and offer student activities for as long as we have,” Caulk said. “We have not seen any transmission on teams; the athletes and coaches who have tested positive have all been from community transmission.”

Caulk said to not pause the activities would be "irresponsible."

“This decision is not a reaction to a specific incident,” he said. “Since June, we have been proactive and every decision we have made about student activities has been led by science, in order to mitigate risks to athletes, coaches and families. The science tells us now that we should hit the pause button. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.”