I agree with you 100%. Our school is looking into a waiver that would allow students who participate in 2 yrs of a varsity sport, as well as marching band, ROTC, and competition cheer squad, to waive phys ed completely. For the most part, these students are a huge benefit to have in class because of their athletic abilities and competitiveness. Not to mention they receive much more knowledge about lifelong sports/fitness/health from a good phys ed class, than they do as a player on a team. I hope this is not the new 'cost efficient' way of thinking about physical education.

Our district also allows students to opt out of one credit of PE (we require three). If a student is on a rigorous academic (or fine arts) track, and they participate in a varsity sport, they may sign a form to have one credit waived. Our problem that we are trying to have remedied is that there is currently no PE teacher signature required on the form. If we can have this changed, we will better be able to track the numbers of students not taking a full load of PE.

We have been fighting this pretty hard as I feel it is a slippery slope. I think the only real way to fight this is to strive for an excellent PE program that meets state and national standards and that you can demonstrate adds to the overall academic mission of your school.

Our policy is similar.
If a 10th-12th grader participates in a sport, and they don't have a study hall in thier schedule, they can be exempted from Physical Education for the marking period. If they play sports all year long then they can be exempted for three of the four marking periods.
I understand the point of the exemptions, but I don't agree with it either. I feel that all students can benefit for participating in Physical Education. Some coaches feel that having athletes particpating in Physical Education, they are prone to getting injured, therefore causing an issue for the sport they particpate in.

Our school district tried to implement the option to opt out of physical education AND health with our Senior class in an effort to reduce the amount of sections of classes they would need to fill, which in turn would reduce our staff by one or two people. All the students would have to do is join a gym or health club outside of school, and say that they were participating in regular physical activity. We saw the logistical nightmare that this would be, and that there was absolutely no way that we could hold these kids accountable. But the district was set on implementing this, and was so sure that they would get enough interest in it, that they did not rehire one of our colleagues.
When the district didn't get the support they expected, the option to opt out was given to the entire student population regardless of whether you played a sport or not. Even with the option to opt out of physical education open to the entire student poulation they still failed to get enough student support to institute it. Luckily, the staff member was rehired, and our physical education program was left unharmed.
Sadly, I think that this is the future of physical education in our Country, and more and more schools will turn to this as a way of saving money. I too believe that building and maintaining a quality physical education program, is the only way that you will be able to retain your students, and prevent this from happening in the future.

This really bothers me as a PE teacher. Students should be exposed to various sports and fitness activities. Very few students at this age are self motivated what a diservice this is to our students.

We do not have the “opt out” policy and if we did I would strongly vote against it. Sports are great but all students need physical education as it fosters not only physical performance and fitness but teaches students how to work together. When you are on a team the students all want to be there but in PE you have students of varying abilities and social skills. Having a well rounded PE program helps develop social, emotional and physical skills.

I am aware of one district in Pennsylvania that has implemented a similar policy. I am sure that there are more that I'm not aware of. I agree with you, it is a shame. I think that they are missing out on the social benefits associated with participating in physical education.

Our school district has a "Plan 2" that allows kids to use two seasons of a school sport at any level to serve as a PE credit. However, not many kids do this.

The main problem in our district is summer school, where Wellness and Healthful Living are the only classes that are taught for credit advancement instead of credit reovery. Instead of 18 weeks of the class, the students can do it in 6 weeks in the summer, many times with a non-certified teacher. We end up having a lot of the kids do the Wellness class in the summer so they can chose other electives or some of them do it because they know it will be an easier way to "get the credit out of the way". We've fought it for years to no avail.

I teach middle school grades 7/8. I want my students to be involved in class as much as possible and I do not want to spend a lot of time fighting the clothing issue. Therefore I have made it part of their participation grade. If they are not properly dressed then they cannot participate to the best of their ability. Not only that but there is a cleanliness factor that I address on the first class of the term. The way it works is this. I will give them a 100 in powergrade under participation. In order to keep the 100 they must come to class prepared and participate in all the activities unless their is a medical excuse that does not allow them to participate. I require clothing that meets or exceeds the school dress code to be worn in class. I actually go further than that in regards to shirts in that I require a high neck shirt. At the end of class they must have something else to change into, meaning different shirt and different shorts or pants. If they forget a change of clothes or do not have the proper clothes for class a deduction is made of 2 points for shirts, 2 for pants or shorts, and 3 for sneakers. If their footwear or clothing does not allow them to participate safely then they must sit out and take and additional deduction of 5 points. I rarely have to deduct points. Occasionally I have a student who refuses to bring clothes and change up. I contact parents and let them know. Many times that fixes it. Ultimately if they continue not to bring clothes it is recorded as a failing grade in that category. The overall effect is that their final grade is brought down by one letter grade. This works well for me.

Our system is very similar to yours except our students have a PE uniform. We do have more students unprepared than most schools since they must where a specific shirt. Overall, the kids do a good job changing and only get a few points deducted if they are not changed properly.

We have a waiver at our school for varsity athletes that are involved in at least two sports or marching band. I am also not in favor of this option. I feel as if this option makes it seem as if p.e. is not as important as other subject areas. I also agree that some of the varsity athletes can be great helpers in the phys. ed. classroom.

We have started an athletic physical education class and that seems to help keep some students in the p.e. classroom. We can't keep them all but I sure am going to keep trying.

Greetings!

Our policy at the high school is that students are required to take pe/health 9th-11th grade. As seniors, if they choose to, students can take an elective course - Personal Fitness. Opting out is not an option. The idea of opting out of pe for athletes is not a great idea simply because they are not getting the activity and socialization with ALL of their peers as they should. They are only exercising sport specific muscles and learning about sport specific concepts. Therefore, it is only hindering them from becoming a well rounded, whole athlete.