The discussion item related to Santa Rosa City Schools independent P.E. program had board members atwitter Wednesday night.
The disparity between which school’s students apply for an individualized phys ed program, thereby bypassing gym requirements on campus, struck a nerve with a few board members.
The numbers? 105 Maria Carrillo students applied for waivers beween 2006 and the current school year. Compare that with the two from Elsie Allen, five from Piner, 36 from Santa Rosa and 85 from Montgomery.
Pugh, who couldn’t bring himself to name Carrillo as the culprit, merely pointed out that “this school” has numbers that seem out of whack.
“Maybe this school is the embodiment of tremendous physical talent,” he said, as members of the audience laughed.
“To me, this tells me there is manipulation going on,” he said.
“There is something happening there,” he said. “Is this really about integrity? Or is this just a way of getting around the system so that we can have a different graduation requirement?”
The independent P.E. program has long been used by student athletes who spend hours outside of school pursuing a specific sport – enough so that the district has long held a policy to waive their P.E. requirements. Swimming leads the charge at 46 students, followed by equestrian at 40 and dance and soccer tied at 28. But also on the list is competitive cheer (5), cycling (2), motocross racing (1) and triathlon (1).
It wasn’t the sports that raised the eyebrows of board members, Wednesday, it was Carrillo’s high numbers.
Carrillo students might be drawn to the waiver because of their campus’s humanities requirement for graduation.
Pumas have “one fewer elective,” Pugh said. “I get a free period if I do this,” he said.
Trustee Donna Jeye worried aloud that only well to do students can afford requirements of spending 10 hours under the tutelage of a coach necessary to get out of district sponsored P.E.
“Ten hours a week – you’ve got big bucks. That takes a lot of money,” she said.
Only a discussion item Wednesday, the topic is likely to return.
“I think that it warrants future attention from the board,” trustee Tad Wakefield said.