Scrutiny of Part-Time Coaches Proposed : State School Board Wants to Add Health, Education Requirements

The state Board of Education on Thursday proposed stricter health and educational requirements for part-time coaches at public schools.

The board, meeting in Orange County, unveiled proposals to amend rules allowing the hiring of part-time coaches, known as “walk-ons.” Such coaches, who generally supervise minor sports, currently are not required to have teaching credentials.

Walk-ons constitute almost half the coaches at high schools in Southern California.

The number of part-time coaches has increased dramatically in the past seven years, state and county education officials said. A major reason, they said, is more emphasis on minor sports and federal requirements for more girls’ sports.

The state school board, recognizing the need for part-time coaches, has approved their use since 1981. But the board recently said it wanted to tighten the requirements.

Proposed changes by the state school board, which concludes its two-day meeting today at the county Department of Education headquarters in Costa Mesa, include:

- That walk-on coaches be fingerprinted before they are hired and pass a police check to see if they have a criminal record.

- That each coaching applicant obtain “a medical statement from a licensed physician showing that the individual does not have any contagious diseases and is clear of tuberculosis.”

- That walk-ons attend “annually at least one seminar, workshop or other staff development activity related to sports medicine.”

The state Board of Education, which sets rules for hiring of all school personnel, will hold a public hearing in Sacramento next month on the proposed rule changes. The board will then vote on the matter at its April meeting.

The state Board of Education was meeting in Orange County as part of its round-robin efforts to hold meetings in various counties.

State education staff members have said there are indications that the proposed rules unveiled Thursday are likely to withstand a public hearing and be adopted by the board in April and become effective July 1. State Department of Education officials said Thursday that all school districts in the state have been given copies of the proposed changes. “The general reaction . . . was very positive,” said a state education report.

The proposed new changes also spell out specific requirements for walk-ons in first-aid training and work experience.

Existing regulations have required “training programs” for walk-ons in first aid and in coaching theory and technique. But the proposed new changes would set specific goals.

In the field of sports conditioning and first aid, a prospective walk-on coach would have to complete one of three requirements under the new rules. Those alternatives would be: (1) Earning an American Red Cross first-aid card and an American Heart Assn. cardiopulmonary resuscitation card, or (2) certification of practical experience in first-aid and team conditioning, or (3) possession of a California Athletic Trainer Certificate.

In coaching theory and techniques, a walk-on, under the proposed rules, would have to prove he or she has had experience as a coach or had attended courses or clinics deemed adequate for coaching-theory background.

The new rules also would require “documentary evidence” in one of the following: A college-level adolescent psychology class, a seminar on human growth and development or “active involvement with youth in school or community sports programs.”