Participating in two sports can now exempt students from taking a second year of physical education. Approved in late spring and implemented this school year, one sports season can make a student eligible to exempt one semester of PE. Many students are choosing to take advantage of the new policy by playing two sports.
A common misconception that Vice Principal Tony Lam has heard about the policy is that many believe playing sports will cancel out their PE credits. There is also a misunderstanding about which athletic opportunities make athletes eligible for exemption.
“The final decision was that any CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) sport would qualify a student from PE exemption, not credits, and we want to make that clear,” Lam said. “You need to take two years of PE to graduate, and all freshmen are required to take PE, but it’s the second year of PE, which we are now calling PE Course Two, students can be exempted from taking.”
Initially, freshman Alex Garcia planned on joining cross country for the fun of the sport and was first informed about the PE credit policy change during an informational meeting.
“When I did find out about it, I thought to myself that it would be smarter to just do both and commit to those two so that I could do it my following high school years and also not have to do PE next year,” Garcia said.
Freshman Ava Barkley, who played volleyball in the fall and plans on trying out for softball in the spring to exempt her from a second year of PE, understands that there can be many benefits of continuing to take PE. One aspect is that the class can be a space to hang out with friends and connect with teachers.
“I think that taking a PE class could be fun because the teachers are really chill,” Barkley said. “In first period PE, I see the sophomores just kinda doing whatever, so it’s really just like hanging out with friends and playing sports for fun.”
While many students are taking advantage of the opportunity, Lam believes it is important to remember that PE teachers will also be affected by decreasing enrollment in their classes.
“When you don’t have students, it’s hard to justify a position for them. They can’t teach history unless they have a history credential. They can’t teach math unless they have a math credential, so where does that leave them?” Lam said. “It really puts them in a difficult position to try to attract and retain as many students as they can.”
Academic counselor Katy Weeks noted that athletic programs rely heavily on PE teacher presence, and the ripple effect the new policy could bring may directly impact school sports leadership.
“I think it’s like 95% of our PE department coaches at least one team, some coach two… so I think that whoever is deciding these policies that isn’t a part of our school community should take a minute and look at that, and that if you’re creating a situation where we don’t have as many PE teachers, there goes your sports,” Weeks said.
Joining a sport during freshman year can place students in an environment where they are introduced to other students outside of their friend groups and grades. Garcia believes that taking part in high school sports creates stronger bonds that will benefit him long term.
“It also allows me to connect with people who I wouldn’t normally connect with, such as upperclassmen or a coach that I would have never met,” Garcia said. “Knowing more people now in your freshman year is going to help you a lot in your sophomore and junior year, compared to if you only start meeting people next year or the year after that.”
Time will reveal whether students will continue to favor playing sports or taking PE and what the changes to the SCHS environment will be. Lam hopes that as students decide between athletic opportunities, they will prioritize staying healthy and exercising.
“There’s a saying: ‘Healthy body, healthy mind.’ I would definitely encourage students to think about that and not always just focus on the academics but think about what else your body needs,” Lam said.