The San Luis Obispo Unified School District board of trustees narrowly voted to grant a temporary exemption from physical education classes for students who play on high school sports teams.
Prior to this school year, a similar exemption was common in the district, but a new state law mandated that all high school freshmen and sophomores take physical education classes–even those already involved with sports teams.
At the meeting, parents argued that an additional P.E. requirement would be too physically demanding for student athletes.
“There was a groundswell of parents that thought it was too much for these kids to have three to four hours of athletics a day,” said Gary Nichols, whose son, Colin–a SLO High junior–recently surrendered his spot on the football team to concentrate on rugby.
The ruling is temporary until February, when it will be discussed again.
This article appears in Oct 17-24, 2007.