A proposed policy that would end the scholastic requirement for participation in extracurricular activities was approved on first reading by the borough board of education on Jan. 29.
A student in middle or high school currenty needs to keep a C average to qualify for extracurriculars. The proposed policy would also increase the number of credits that 10th, 11th and 12th graders need to participate in extracurriulars to 30, up from 27.5, for first-semester extracurriculars, and to 15 credits, from 13.75, for second-semester activities.
Board Vice President Linda Hochgertel wanted to know why the grade requirement would be removed. According to Superintendent Chuck Klaus, the district has declined to enforce it in the last three to five years. And Assistant Superintendent Gino Priolo maintained that it doesn’t help students doing poorly in school to take away an extracurricular activity.
“We also believe that there’s a lot of intervention that happens with our students, with our guidance counselors with our administrative staff,” Priolo explained. “And we found the vast majority of the time, students are struggling academically, whatever the reason is. Sometimes that co-curricular activity is the best thing that they have going for them.
” … To remove that (activity), what we have found, does not achieve our goals.”
Hochgertel recounted what she’s heard about Haddonfield students studying at track meets.
“(W)hen you’re at these meets, you can always tell the Haddonfield kids, because they’re in a circle and they’re the ones that are studying, getting their work done,” Hochgertel said. “And that to me is who we are. Maybe there are 0.01% of kids that aren’t doing well and that are in a sport. But I feel like this is who we are.”
According to Klaus, there is no grade requirement for participation in sports, so it makes sense for that (proposed policy) to apply to other extracurriculars, too.
“So you have a situation where the track meet’s late or when you wrestle for me, you’re out till 9 o’clock several nights a week,” he noted. “There’s no requirement for you to have a GPA, so long as you pass your class. But if I’m in a chess club once a week and I get a C, I’m out …
“When I first started coaching here, if you fell below a C average, you were off sports.”
Hochgertel responded that she would prefer to continue that policy.
“I kind of feel like that’s where it should be,” she said.
Even if the district mandated a grade requirement for sports, Klaus pointed out, legal issues would prevent it.
“Then we get challenged in that,” Klaus pointed out. “The state says you’re eligible to wrestle, but Haddonfield doesn’t. And now that became challenging and eventually philosophies change.”
Board President Jaime Grookett doesn’t believe a C grade should prevent involvement in extracurriculars.
“I do think that if we’re a school for all students, some students may excel at sports and they might not be academically gifted,” she related. “They might work very hard. I don’t think that a C student necessarily means that they’re not putting in the time or the effort.
“They could struggle,” Grookett added. “Maybe they take hard classes or even regular-ed classes that are a challenge for them and maybe they excel at a sport.”
Hochgertel insisted the C requirement is in place to keep students from failing.
“If you’re failing, it’s different,” Klaus remarked. “If you’re failing, there is a standard. You have to be able to pass your credits … This is just if you’re below a C.”
The extracurriculars policy is expected to have its second reading on Thursday, Feb. 26.
