Academic Eligibility (No-Pass/No-Play) |
(excerpt from the 2005-2006 TEA-UIL Side By Side)
Academic Eligibility for UIL Participants For The First Six Weeks UIL participants are eligible to participate in contests during the first six weeks of the school year provided the following standards have been met:
• Students beginning grades nine and below must have been promoted from a lower grade prior to the beginning of the current school year.
• Students beginning their second year of high school must have earned five credits which count toward state high school graduation requirements.
• Students beginning their third year of high school either must have earned a total of ten credits which count toward state high school graduation credits or a total of five credits which count toward state high school graduation requirements must have been earned during the 12 months preceding the first day of the current school year.
• Students beginning their fourth year of high school either must have earned a total of 15 credits which count toward state high school graduation credits or a total of five credits which count toward state high school graduation requirements must have been earned during the 12 months preceding the first day of the current school year.
Exceptions:
(a) When a migrant student enrolls for the first time during a school year, all criteria cited above applies. All other students who enroll too late to earn a passing grade for a grading period are ineligible.
(b) High school students transferring from out-of-state may be eligible the first six weeks of school if they meet the criteria cited above or school officials are able to determine that they would have been eligible if they had remained in the out-of-state school from which they are transferring.
Students who are not in compliance with these provisions may request a hardship appeal of their academic eligibility through the UIL state office.
Local school boards may elect to adopt these standards for all activities in order to avoid having different standards for student participants (e.g., football, drill team, cheerleading, and all other extracurricular activities as defined by Commissioner of Education rule [TAC Chapter §76]. See page 14.
Academic Eligibility for UIL Participants After The First Six Weeks
A student who receives, at the end of any grading period (after the first six weeks of the school year), a grade below 70 in any class (other than an identified advanced class) or a student with disabilities who fails to meet the standards in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) may not participate in extracurricular activities for three school weeks.
An ineligible student may practice or rehearse, however. The student regains eligibility after the seven calendar-day waiting period has ended following a grading or the three school-weeks evaluation period when the principal and teachers determine that he or she has earned a passing grade (70 or above) in all classes, other than those that are advanced.
All schools must check grades for all participants at the end of the first six weeks of the school year. From that point, grades are checked at the end of the grading period whether it is six, nine, or twelve weeks in length. Students who pass remain eligible until the end of the next grading period. All activity coaches and directors are responsible for obtaining official grade reports from the individual the principal designates as the keeper of official grades before the student represents the school. This provision applies to all grading periods. It also applies to all three-school week evaluation periods for ineligible students.
• All students are eligible during a school holiday of a full calendar week or more. When the bell rings to dismiss students for the December holidays, all students are eligible until classes resume in January.
The same is true for summer recess and fall and spring breaks provided those breaks consist of at least a full calendar week. (See example)
• Students in year-round schools are eligible during inter-sessions.
• If a grading period or three school week evaluation period ends on the last class day prior to a school holiday of one calendar week or more (e.g. spring break, winter holidays), the seven calendar day grace period to lose eligibility and the seven calendar day waiting period to regain eligibility begin the first day that classes resume.
• Students lose eligibility for a three school-week period. For purposes of the law, "three school weeks" is defined as 15 class days.
Exception: One, but only one of the three school weeks may consist of only three or four class days, provided school has been dismissed for a scheduled holiday period. Two class days does not constitute a "school week" for purposes of this law except Thanksgiving week if schools are on holiday Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
A school district may request an exception from UIL officials to the two day school week in the event of a disaster, flood, extreme weather condition or other calamity as listed in TAC Chapter §42.005. In the event two of three school weeks are shortened, one of the shortened weeks may be counted as five days with ten other actual class days making up the fifteen class days.
After the first six weeks of the school year, academically ineligible students in schools with six week grading periods have eligibility. However, it is important to remember that school districts may voluntarily impose stricter standards than those cited in this document. Therefore, a school district has the authority to adopt a policy that would count grades in these classes for eligibility purposes if it wishes to do so. Note: The “Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual” may be obtained on the web at www.thecb.state.tx.us. Click on Core Curriculum and Transfer to locate 223-page manual.
Use the UIL-TEA Side by Side for more detailed academic eligibility information.
Go to top
|
