LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell high schools in Kentucky are now allowed to continue extracurricular activities, such as football.
Last Friday, the football teams at the schools for military families were forced to cancel their games because of the government shutdown pausing all extracurricular activities at the schools on the army posts.
Following those games being canceled, Sen. Mitch McConnell wrote a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking for activities to be allowed to continue despite the shutdown.
In a statement Tuesday following the Department of Defense decision to allow activities, McConnell said "Our servicemembers and their children shouldn't pay the price for Washington's failure to fund the government. I'm so grateful they'll now be able to suit up and get back in the game."
The shutdown has disrupted sports at other military post high schools, including Camp Lejeune’s high school football team in North Carolina. Camp Lejeune’s host this week, Northside High School, moved up their homecoming game to be played Tuesday, before the shutdown took effect Wednesday.
The Department of Defense Education Activity, known as DoDEA, manages prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs for the Department of Defense. It said last Friday that its schools will remain open for normal instructional operations during the government shutdown.
“However, sporting events, sports practices and all extracurricular activities are not considered excepted activities during a lapse in appropriations," it said in a statement. "As a result, these activities, including those held outside of the school day, will remain paused for the duration of the shutdown.”
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