On Oct. 2, district leaders held a board meeting at which students, parents, and teachers expressed their outrage at the policy change that would make P.E. mandatory for all incoming freshmen next year, regardless of whether they already participate in athletics, marching band or Color Guard. Though athletes and band members are currently exempted from P.E. freshman year during their sport season, the new policy seems destined to change this.
To combat the controversial policy, athletic teams and band members have voiced their complaints through multiple outlets. The Saratoga Music Boosters, for example, sent out an email to its members notifying them of the negative effects this policy will have on music members and asking them to attend the board meeting to express their opinions on it.
The outrage sparked by this policy change is well deserved. The point of the policy is to ensure that all students learn about healthy lifestyles and exercise sufficiently; however, sports and band members already lead physically active lifestyles due to the nature of their respective activities.
These students already spend more daily time exercising than P.E. students; to assign them an additional P.E. class is pointless. If the California Educational Code’s state standards are the issue, the district should seek a waiver or modification to continue to exempt students from P.E.
The new policy also would eliminate the semester-long Health/Drivers Ed class currently provided for all freshmen, instead combining the Health curriculum with P.E. in a joint P.E./Health course. Students will spend less time in P.E. actually doing physical activity to compensate for additional material from the Health curriculum, while students who wish to take their permit and license tests must find private Drivers Ed classes and pay for them on their own. This tradeoff benefits no one.
Those in favor of the policy say it will have little effect on the band and athletic departments. However, school-related extracurricular activities, including athletics and band, are a major aspect of student life and school spirit.
Removing the exemption of these students from P.E. discourages involvement in these activities, because an additional class means less time after school, more homework, later practices and less sleep. To participate in these activities, freshmen will need to take seven classes and then head off to their activities.
For next year’s incoming freshmen, these restrictions will make sports and band much more difficult to fit into daily schedules, and fewer students will want to participate.
Additionally, the district board did not adequately inform students, teachers or parents about this policy change. Athletes and band members had no voice in the conception of this change; students were informed of the situation only a few days before the Oct. 2 board meeting. As one student said at the meeting, “Why are none of the board members at [sports and band practices] to see if they are meeting the physical fitness standards?”
Athletics and band are an integral part of the school’s climate and energy. Fewer students participating in these activities will risk the end of athletics and band as we know it.