The California R-I School Board set "dead week" to be July 2-10 for 2016. Set at the regular meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 18, the consensus of the board and administration was to set the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHAA) mandated nine day "dead period" as early as possible. It is considered to have worked well for the last several years to have it over the Independence Day week. The board expressed the opinion that setting it early allows families to plan ahead for vacations or other travels.
According to the MSHAA rules, the "dead period" must be nine consecutive days in length. The period must begin on a Saturday and end on a Sunday. Each school sets its own dead period, with the earliest possible beginning date no earlier than the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend or the Saturday following the school's last day of classes, whichever is later. The latest possible dead period would end on the Sunday prior to the first allowable high school fall practice.
The dead period is a "no school activities time" in which no contact is to take place between school coaches/directors of MSHSAA sponsored activities and students enrolled, or who will be enrolled for the next school year. No school facilities can be utilized by enrolled students in connection with any sport or activity governed by MSHSAA. No open gyms, competitions, practices, conditioning, weight training; no activity-related functions or fundraisers, camps or clinics at school facilities or sponsored elsewhere by the school. No coaches / directors or students are to have planned contact. It also must be the same for all sports and activities. Any sports activities during this time can't involve the school coach, the school or school facilities. All middle school and high school coaches, directors and athletes are affected by this dead period.