M
The Board of Education
recognizes the value of a program of athletic competition for both boys and
girls as an integral part of the total school experience. Game activities
and practice sessions provide opportunities to learn the values of competition
and good sportsmanship. Programs of athletic competition, both
intrascholastic and interscholastic, offer pupils the opportunity to exercise
and test their athletic abilities in a context greater and more varied than
that offered by the class or school or school district alone, and an
opportunity for career and educational development.
For purposes of this
policy, the program of athletic competition includes all activities relating to
competitive sports contests, games, or events or sports exhibitions involving
individual pupils or teams of pupils of this district when such events occur
within or between separate schools within this district or with any schools
outside this district.
Eligibility Standards
A pupil who wishes to
participate in athletic competition must submit, on a form provided by the
district, the signed consent of his/her parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
The consent of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of a pupil who wishes to
participate in interscholastic athletics must include an acknowledgment of the
physical hazards that may be encountered in the sport.
Pupil participation in
athletic competition shall be governed by the following eligibility standards:
1. A
pupil in grades five through eight is eligible for participation in sports if
he/she passed all courses required for the report card in the preceding marking
period.
2. A
pupil in any grade must maintain a satisfactory record of attendance to be
eligible for participation in sports. An attendance record is
unsatisfactory if absences exceed five days in the preceding marking
period. No pupil who has been absent for a school day may participate in
an athletic competition scheduled for the afternoon or evening of that school
day.
3. A
pupil in any grade who fails to demonstrate good citizenship or observe school
rules for pupil conduct may forfeit his/her eligibility for participation in
athletic competition.
Notice of these
eligibility requirements shall be given to pupils.
Health Requirements
Good physical condition,
freedom from injury, and full recovery from illness are prerequisites to
participation in athletic competition and practice for such competition.
HIV status shall not be screened as a part of athletic physicals or reported in
school health records.
An examination of each
candidate for a school athletic squad or team shall be conducted within 365
days prior to the first practice session with examinations being conducted at
the medical home of the pupil. The “medical home” is defined as a health
care provider and that provider’s practice site chosen by the pupil’s parent(s)
or legal guardian(s) for the provision of health care. Since the school
physician is a “health care provider”, the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) may
chose either the school physician or their own private physician to provide the
medical examination.
The medical examination
shall be conducted in accordance with N.J.S.A 6A:16-2.2(h)1 and 2 and
Regulation 2431.2. The medical report shall include a determination
concerning the pupil’s participation on an athletic team or squad from the
examining physician, nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist, or
physician’s assistant. The medical report shall be provided to the school
physician if the school physician did not provide the medical
examination.
If the pupil’s medical
examination was completed more than sixty days prior to the first practice
session, the pupil must provide a health history update of medical problems
experienced since the last medical examination in accordance with N.J.A.C.
6A:16-2.2(h)4. This health history must be completed and signed by the
parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
The school district will
provide written notification to the parent(s) or legal guardian(s), signed by
the school physician, stating approval of the pupil’s participation in the
athletics, based solely on the medical report, or the written reasons for the
school physician’s disapproval of the pupil’s participation. The school
physician’s signature on the notification indicates the medical report complies
with the requirements of N.J.A.C. 6A:16-2.2(h)5.
The health findings of
this medical examination shall be maintained as part of the pupil’s health
record.
The medical examination
conducted to determine the fitness of a candidate for athletic competition and
the health history update must include, as a minimum, the respective medical
history information and physical assessments set forth in rules of the State
Board of Education and incorporated in their entirety in regulations
implementing this policy.
Emergency Procedures
Athletic coaches shall
be trained in first aid and in the identification of pupil athletes who are
injured or disabled in the course of any athletic activity.
The Chief School
Administrator shall prepare and present to the Board for its approval
procedures for the emergency treatment of injuries and disabilities that occur
in the course of any athletic activity. Emergency procedures shall be
reviewed by the Board not less than once in each school year and shall be
disseminated to appropriate staff members.
Interscholastic
Standards
The Board shall approve
annually a program of interscholastic athletics and shall require that all
facilities utilized in that program, whether or not the property of this Board,
properly safeguard both players and spectators and are kept free from hazardous
conditions.
The Board adopts as
Board policy the rules and regulations of the New Jersey State Interscholastic
Athletic Association and shall review such rules annually to ascertain that
they continue to be in conformity with the objectives of this Board.
The Chief School
Administrator shall annually prepare, approve, and present to the Board for its
consideration a program of interscholastic athletics that includes a complete
schedule of athletic events and shall inform the Board of changes in that
schedule as they occur.
The Chief School
Administrator shall prepare rules for the conduct of pupils participating in
interscholastic athletics that will conform to rules of the State Board of
Education, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
N.J.S.A. 2C:21-11;
N.J.S.A. 18A:11-3 et
seq.
N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.7;
6A:16-1.4; 6A:16-2 et seq.
Adopted: 12 March
2007
Revised: 9
February 2009