IRVINE : Policy on Grades, Activities Proposed

The Irvine Unified School District tonight will consider a new policy under which a failing grade in any class would keep students out of most extracurricular activities--except sports.

The board will consider adopting what it calls a “no F” rule for student activities that require participation for the entire school year, including serving on the student council, the cheerleading squad and the pep squad. The new policy would also require students to earn a 2.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and avoid unsatisfactory citizenship citations.

The proposed districtwide policy follows complaints by a Woodbridge High School cheerleader that cheerleader and pep squad members were discriminated against since they were the only ones to whom the “no F” rule applied. The cheerleader also objected to the academic rules being different at each of Irvine’s three full-time high schools.

“I see this as a starting point for the discussion,” said board member Greg Smith, who asked that the new policies be placed on the board agenda. “Quite frankly, I’ll be quite interested to see why rules applied to cheerleaders don’t apply for other activities as well.”

Students participating in sports, however, which are considered partial-year activities, would have to earn only a 2.0 grade-point average and pass four classes under the new rules, according to the staff report. Those requirements are consistent with policies of the California Interscholastic Federation and making them more stringent could put Irvine athletes at a competitive disadvantage, the report said.