A student-led effort to count varsity athletics towards high school graduation credit has cleared its first hurdle in the legislature.
Members of the Rapid City Area Schools Student School Board worked with Representative Kathy Rice, the bill’s prime sponsor. The students who testified in favor of the bill say it will provide time for varsity athletes to catch up on schoolwork.
The bill’s first opponent was South Dakota Secretary of Education Joe Graves.
“The truth is no sport can possibly cover the high school P.E. standards," he told members of the House Education Committee.
Beyond that, Graves explained teachers must be certified in the subject area for students to earn credit towards graduation. Most coaches are not certified in physical education, and Graves said there’s already a shortage of coaches around the state.
“If you were to say tomorrow, ‘This sport counts, but the teacher has to be certified,’ you’re going to have a major problem because you’re going to wipe out something like 75-80% of your coaches in the varsity area in South Dakota," Secretary Graves explained. "‘Ok, so then we just won’t require them to have the certification.’ Well now you’re awarding a course for credit with a teacher, a coach, who’s not certified in the area. That’s a pretty severe break from everything else we do.”
Other opponents say any adjustments to high school graduation credits should go through the state Board of Education Standards hearing process rather than the legislature.
Stevens High School Student Trenton Policky rebuts that varsity sports don’t meet P.E. standards.
“Is playing ping-pong or cornhole— as I did in my lifetime class last fall, after having to play twelve games for 90 straight minutes and I couldn’t get a credit, where I ran for seven miles for 12 games. But I get a credit for playing ping-pong or cornhole— Is that the standard we want to have in South Dakota?” Policky said.
The bill eventually passed through committee by one vote. It heads next to the full House floor for further debate.
