Mixed Reaction To Proposed GPA Requirement For Extracurricular Activities

A proposed in the drew both support and criticism at a public hearing on Wednesday.

Proponents of the plan—which would require students participating in sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities to make a minimum 1.7 grade point average starting in the 2012-2013 school year—said it would encourage students to improve their grades. Opponents said it would be discriminatory and could drive students away from positive school-sanctioned activities.

The policy

Superintendent Nicholas Fischer gave a brief presentation of the proposed policy at a forum at the . Fischer said that under the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference participation requirements, students must pass four Carnegie units, each equivalent to one full year course, to take part on a sports team. Fischer said under the CIAC requirements, students may be eligible to join an athletic team with a GPA as low as 0.5714.

The policy proposes the 1.7 GPA minimum—the equivalent of a C- average—for the first year and a minimum GPA of 2.0 for the 2013-2014 year. The policy would not affect co-curricular activities such as the band and Junior ROTC.

Athletes who do not meet the minimum GPA would be placed on a five-week academic probation. If they do not meet the minimum by that time, they would be ineligible for participation on the team until the next grading cycle to determine whether their grades have improved.

Athletes who met the minimum at the start of a grading cycle but fall below it at the end of the cycle would be placed on a two-week academic probation. These students would be allowed to practice during this period, but not take part in games. If their grades have not improved by the end of the academic probation, they would be deemed ineligible for team participation.

Fischer said the academic probation sections were proposed by Jeff Larson, athletic director at the , and other coaches. He said there would be paid staff for the academic support for students on probation, and that community members and volunteer coaches would also be asked to participate in this program.

Reactions

Tommie Major, director of the , cautioned that the district could be setting rules without the resources to back them up. He also questioned why the policy would only reference two school years.

“This should be a four-year plan to get ourselves together…1.7, we shouldn’t even be talking about that,” he said.

Juana Roman, a probation officer and New London High School football coach, said he considered the measure discriminatory in that it only applies to certain students. Roman said students participating in sports and clubs are voluntarily joining a school activity, and that difficulties in meeting a higher standard than the one set by CIAC could drive students to go to other schools or quit. He added that such a rule could prevent students from interacting with positive influences in sports teams and clubs.

“This rule is making it a little more complicated than it needs to be for our kids,” Roman said.

Kent Reyes, a New London firefighter and football coach, said the district needs to start addressing academic achievement in lower grades instead of implementing rules that will chiefly affect the middle and high schools. He said extracurricular activities are sometimes the only thing keeping a student in school.

“If we implement this rule, our graduation rate will go down,” said Reyes. “Our crime rate will go up.”

City Councilor Anthony Nolan, a police officer and founder of the youth group ImPak'Uth, said he was not against raising expectations but felt the measure could be too punitive.

“I really think our kids need to be held to a higher standard, but I think they could be held accountable by a different way than a penalty for sports and extracurricular activities,” he said.

New London resident Sara Chaney said the district needs to ensure that students are prepared academically for life after they leave the schools. She also criticized the suggestion that students could abandon an activity rather than work to meet the standard.

“You’re selling our children short by saying they can’t do it,” she said.

Mongi Dhouadi, a New London resident whose three children attend magnet schools, said he did not consider the measure punitive but rather an incentive for students to meet the requirements to participate in activities. He suggested that the standard could also be set higher than a C- average.

“Would you expect someone who’s not even average on your team?” he asked. “You would not.”

Fischer response

Fischer said it would be up to coaches and students to meet the requirements of academic probation, and believed that they would cooperate to do so. He said one coach in the district will not let any student who is failing a class play in a competition.

Fischer said the district’s graduation requirements are credit-based, meaning it is possible to graduate with a GPA lower than 1.7. However, he said participation in extracurricular activities is considered a privilege.

Fischer said there is no evidence to suggest that increased requirements for extracurricular participation lead to an increased dropout rate. He also noted that there has been a demand to e, and that the policy is part of that effort.

“These students need to know what’s going to happen to them in college, because a lot of our students have not made it through the first year of college,” he said.

Discussion of the policy is on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. Fischer said he has recommended that the board hold additional discussion on the item to allow for more public input and take a vote on it at the January meeting.