Oklahoma school district stops basketball games due to 'super-spreader event'
A public school district in Oklahoma City canceled basketball games on Friday night after witnessing what it called a "super-spreader event."
Millwood Public Schools said it "made the decision to put kids and families first," pulling its basketball players off the court during games against Community Christian School in Norman, about 20 miles south of downtown Oklahoma City. The school district posted photos on Facebook showing a crowded gymnasium with few people wearing masks or maintaining distances.
"We will NOT subject our kids and families to a super-spreader event just to compete," Millwood Public Schools wrote in the Facebook post Friday night.
![PHOTO: Millwood Public Schools posted this photo on Facebook, showing a basketball game at Community Christian School in Norman, Oklahoma, on Jan. 15, 2020.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/millwood-public-schools-fb-1_1610969554880_hpMain_4x3_992.jpg)
Community Christian School's athletics director, Mat McIntosh, told Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO-TV that the photos shared on social media showed the home side, which "was three-fourths full." He said that they "would never put any students at risk."
"During [Friday] night’s game when the decision was made to pull the players off the court, we were caught off guard," McIntosh said in a statement. "We hated that. It has been our desire to keep things as normal as possible. We have policies in place for COVID during athletic events. As a school, we have listened to the governor’s statement to stay at 50% capacity. We feel even [Friday] night, our overall capacity was under 50%."
![PHOTO: Millwood Public Schools posted this photo on Facebook, showing a basketball game at Community Christian School in Norman, Oklahoma, on Jan. 15, 2020.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/millwood-public-schools-fb-2_1610969926071_hpEmbed_4x3_992.jpg)