School sports heat policies, state by state

How to read these labels

Required:

the association’s document is written as a requirement for its member schools, in words like “must” or “shall”, or as a by-law. It may require the heat reading, the activity limits or both, and some let a school use the heat index instead of WBGT. The “Reading it uses” column and each state page say which.

Recommended:

the document is written as guidance, using words like “should” or “recommends”.

No statewide WBGT rule:

we read what the association publishes and found no WBGT limits. Some of these associations use the heat index. Some set no measured limit.

Source unconfirmed:

we could not confirm which document the association follows. We show a general guide and say so on the page.

Whatever the label, your school or district may have adopted its own version. Confirm what currently applies with your school or association.

Why the numbers differ from state to state

Athletes who train in hot places all summer adapt to the heat. So many policies set higher WBGT limits in hot regions than in cool ones. A regional model from the Korey Stringer Institute / Grundstein splits the country into three categories. Category 1 is the coolest and Category 3 the hottest. Some associations name their category. Some print their own numbers. Some print all three columns and leave the choice to the school.