Sep 7, 2014 3 min read

We find it interesting West Greene School Board has started debating the idea of establishing academic eligibility standards for students who want to participate in extracurricular activities.

The board’s education committee came up with the notion while discussing ways to increase student performance, according to committee chairman Chad Scott. It’s believed holding students to higher academic standards might motivate some to work harder to remain eligible to participate in such activities as marching band or football.

The committee included a motion on the board’s agenda at a meeting last month that would require a student to maintain a 70 percent, or “C” average, in each class in which they are enrolled. The motion failed to be considered for a vote.

A motion was then introduced that would require students to maintain a grade point average of 66 percent – more or less a “D+” average – for all subjects combined. It also failed.

West Greene board meetings normally don’t attract large numbers of parents, but at this meeting more than a dozen were in attendance and many opposed the proposal that would require students to maintain a “C” in each subject. Some parents said other districts that had experimented with higher academic eligibility standards witnessed declining participation in sports, band and other activities, and dwindling school morale.

Some students might be discouraged from enrolling in more challenging courses for fear of losing eligibility, one parent said. Other students, another parent pointed out, might lose the only connection they have to school, the sole incentive that keeps them from dropping out.

Parents asked the board to give the matter further thought and to consider developing a plan that would also provide tutoring for students who don’t meet the eligibility requirements. The committee is apparently going to discuss the matter further.

We suggest the board take a close look at other districts that have set higher standards for participation in extracurricular activities and determine whether the results can have any application within the West Greene district. Did revised, more rigorous standards motivate students to do better in their academic subjects? Or did they simply lead to a drop-off in extracurricular participation and hike dropout rates?

School boards most often are busy making decisions on the administrative aspects of running a school district, such as hiring teachers and considering budgets. This subject we believe, will require the board to think more deeply about the educational aspects of the institutions they lead.