By Akane Fujimura
Eligibility at Homer High School is an issue that many students, parents, and faculty seem to not fully understand. Many people think if they don’t have passing grades, above 70 percent in all classes, on that particular day then they can’t practice that afternoon in sports.
This rule is not in the Homer High School handbook, and according to Dr. Gee this is up to the coaches to reinforce.
“Wait. The coaches can’t make decisions about the eligible students participate in sports, can they?” Casey Farrell, a junior, said. Like Casey, many students don’t know that coaches make these decisions.
“I knew that the coaches can make decisions, but actually they really can’t,” Mr. Welch, the girls basketball coach, said. “I receive the list of eligible students on the team from Mr. Etzwiler, and all I can do is to talk to them, encourage them to get caught up that day.”
As Dr. Gee opposes, “It’s coaches’ responsibility, and they can decide if they want the student to be there at practice that day, or tell them not to go to the practice and just try to encourage them to get caught up.”
However, as Mr. Etzwiler says that the daily grade checks are important because if a student can’t pass the grade check, they can’t participate in any activities for four weeks and some sports will be over by then. “We want every student to play, but we also want to make sure that they’ll have above 70% when the next grade check comes. It’s case by case if the students can play that day, and we just want every student to be fair as much as possible.”