Maximum Push for a Minimum GPA : Spirit of Proposed State Bill for a C-Average Rule Embraced in Valley Districts

In January, a bill will be introduced to the state Legislature that would require all students in grades 7-12 to have a minimum 2.0 grade-point average in order to participate in extracurricular activities.

The bill, which was authored by Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier), would bring the state in line with a proposed NCAA regulation of incoming freshmen requiring a minimum 2.0 grade-point average, the passing of 11 core courses and a minimum score of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

“The senator feels that academics is a priority and that athletics are secondary,” said Kathy Somerton, a consultant to the senator. “Right now there is no balance. We feel that it is time that the state stepped in with a social policy to remedy that.”

But while reform has been slow in coming at the state level, school districts in the Valley area have been quick in reacting to what is perceived by some as a crisis within the state’s educational system.

The issue of mandatory requirements was brought to national attention by the sentencing of former UCLA linebacker Billy Don Jackson, a Texas high school graduate, who pleaded no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the stabbing of a drug dealer in October, 1980.

During sentencing, the judge called Jackson a “functional illiterate.” He was ordered to take remedial courses to learn how to read and write as a term of his probation.

He was the example board president Rita Walters used in her campaign to institute the C-average rule in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the spring of 1982.

Said Walters: “We’re educated people. How could we be taking advantage of people like Billy Don Jackson? He was used.”

It was Walters’ wish that the Los Angeles district adopt rules to keep other athletes or students from being used by the educational system.

Other districts took up Walter’s campaign.

Of the eight school districts in the Valley area, seven now have C-average rules and the one that doesn’t--the Oak Park Unified School District--has a no-fail policy that could render a student ineligible for five weeks.

Six of the districts instituted guidelines after the spring of 1982. The William S. Hart Union High School District adapted a C Average policy in 1979.

The guidelines are similar, but not exactly the same as that of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Moorpark Union High School District rules are most like that of the Los Angeles district’s. Students must have a 2.0 average during each quarter of the school year. If not, they are ineligible for extracurricular activities during the next quarter. In addition, a student must not receive an F in English, math, history or biology--the four courses required for graduation.

The Burbank Unified School District has a no-fail rule only for ninth-graders who participate in high school athletics.

The reason, according to Charles Rowitz, Director of Secondary Education for the district, is that a junior high student must take the last period off each day in order to attend practice at the high school.

Students in the Burbank district are allowed to improve their grade-point averages or make up a failed course during summer school. They can be restricted from extracurricular activities by two or more unsatisfactory citizenship grades, however. The same rule applies in the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Private schools in the Valley area tend to have even more stringent requirements.

At Montclair Prep, students who fall below 2.0 are not only ineligible for sports or other activities, but are also put on probation.

Those students must meet with administrator Robert Jones each week to review their progress in class. Jones expects each student on probation to submit a “check sheet” each week. The sheet must be signed by a parent and include comments from teachers on the student’s test grades, homework and attitude.

Progress reports are sent to the parents of all students every four weeks.

If a student fails a subject--which at Montclair Prep means getting a C- or worse--he might retain eligibility, but be put on probation for that one class. Grades in English, math, history, science and foreign languages count in a student’s GPA. Physical education and other elective classes do not count.

Certainly, Montclair Prep’s guidelines are more strict than most, but according to statistics compiled by Sen. Montoya’s office, slightly more than 50% of the state’s junior and senior high schools have some kind of C-average policy.

California Interscholastic Federation rule 205, which requires that students only pass four classes in the preceding grading period, is used by 22% of the schools. The rest of the schools have grade-point average requirements ranging from 1.0 to 1.8.

Joe Ward, senior assistant athletic director at UCLA, said the C-average rule will help universities adjust to the new NCAA policy, which will be implemented in the fall of 1986.

“Anything that the high schools do to better prepare athletes benefits us,” Ward said. “The C rule is effective. It helps student-athletes remember that part of the hyphenated word is ‘student.’ ”

--Times Staff Writer Steve Henson also contributed to this story. Academic Eligibility: A Survey of Valley-Area School Districts

School C-Average Grading No-Fail First Year P.E. Classes District Rule? Period Rule? of Rule Count? Los Angeles Yes Quarter Yes 1982 Yes Las Virgenes Yes Semester No 1983 Yes Oak Park No 5 Weeks Yes 1982 Yes Simi Valley Yes Quarter No 1983 Yes Conejo Valley Yes Semester No 1983 Yes Burbank Yes Quarter No 1984 Yes Hart Yes Quarter No 1979 Yes Moorpark Yes Quarter Yes 1984 Yes

School Percent Ruled District Ineligible in ’84 Los Angeles 16.3% Las Virgenes 5.0% Oak Park 9.0% Simi Valley 2.5% Conejo Valley 2.0% Burbank 19.0% Hart 9.0% Moorpark 5.0%