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ELIGIBILITY

BELLOWS FALLS MIDDLE SCHOOL CO-CURRICULAR ELIGIBILITY 

 

  1. Eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities will be based on learner characteristics.  Students with 2’s and higher are eligible to play and participate. Any student receiving a 1 or lower in a learner characteristic will have two weeks to work with teachers to improve the situation. 
  2. Any student responsible for a Tier 3 or repeated Tier 2 infraction as identified by our Behavior Matrix will be ineligible to participate for three school days. Further consequences could be implemented by coaches and/or the athletic director. 
  3. Ineligible players may NOT participate in games or practices.
  4. After school study and other academic activities will take precedence over extracurricular activities to the discretion of the coach of individual teams.

Eligibility checks at the Middle School will happen at the following times: September 27, October 18th, November 22nd, December 20th, January 17th, February 14th, March 14th, April 11th, May 9th, June 6th

BELLOWS FALLS HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC CO-CURRICULAR ELIGIBILITY

The Athletic Director/activity coordinator shall work with building administration to ensure that all students who are participants in any club, on any athletic team at any level, or with any co-curricular activity meet all of the requirements as listed below:

 

  1. The eligibility regulations of the Vermont Principals Association shall be in force for all co-curricular activities and athletics at Bellows Falls Union High School. (Link)
  2. In addition to the VPA regulations, the following academic eligibility rules shall be in force:
    • Each student must be enrolled in at least three credits at the time of participation
    • Each student must have been enrolled in subjects at the rate of three credits for the warning/marking period immediately preceding the time of participation (credit values of the subjects are listed in the Program of Studies on the BFUHS website)
    • A student must pass all courses taken (except as noted in paragraphs 2.i and 2.j below) in order to maintain their eligibility to participate in co-curricular activities and athletics.  This eligibility status will be determined at the end of each quarter and at the midpoint of each quarter when progress reports are sent out.  This works out to an eligibility check approximately every four weeks.
      • Eligibility checks at the High School will happen at the following times: October 2, 2024, November 6, 2024, December 11, 2024, January 22, 2025, March 12, 2025, April 19, 2025, May 21, 2025, June 18, 2025 (June 11, 2025 Seniors) 
    • When a student is unable to complete required work due to extenuating circumstances an incomplete (INC) can be approved by the student’s school counselor & teacher. Students who receive an INC will have three weeks into the following quarter to complete work at which time an incomplete (INC) will be converted to a letter grade. Students who receive an INC are required to regularly attend BFUHS homework lab after school until the work has been completed unless another plan has been approved by the student’s teacher and school counselor. At the close of the 4th quarter, an incomplete is only approved on a case by case basis for students electing to enroll in Summer Credit Recovery support.
    • If a student is ineligible due to failing one (defined as below 70%) or more classes, the student can regain eligible status by the successful completion of two week tracking as overseen by teacher and activity / athletics director. Athletes on two week tracking are expected to attend practices and are unable to play in games until successful completion of this process. The tracking process, and related eligibility, will continue until the athlete is considered in good academic standing (grades 70 or above). The same criteria applies to other co-curricular activities. Only exceptions are outlined in section “go” below.
    • For students that are ineligible for failing a class at the end of the school year (as determined by fourth quarter grade), those students can regain their eligibility by successfully completing a school-approved credit recovery program which results in successful completion of the failed course(s) and results in the student receiving BFUHS credit for the course(s) in question. The school is under no financial or programmatic obligation to provide access to credit recovery opportunities due to any aspect of this policy or these procedures.
    • Any student who is, at the time of the eligibility check, is failing only one class with a grade between 60 and 69 percent, will remain eligible for participation in co-curricular activities.
  3. Given that a policy rarely covers all contingencies adequately and, again, acknowledging the important role of co-curricular activities in the education process, the necessity of appeals for waivers to various portions of this policy may arise on very rare occasions.  Any waiver request must begin with a written request to the principal. Depending upon the exact circumstances involved in the request, it could be approved/disapproved by the principal or may require further review and action by the board of school directors.   During the time period between the submission of a written appeal to a student’s eligibility status and the time in which the principal renders a decision on the appeal, the student will remain ineligible to participate in co-curricular activities. Students, parents, coaches, and school staff members may file an appeal based only on one of the following two criteria:
    • To question the grade in the class; or
    • To present extenuating circumstances in a student’s school or personal life that may have contributed to the student’s ineligible status.

The written appeal must clearly state which of the options listed above constitute the grounds for the appeal with specific details supporting the grounds for the appeal. An appeal must be submitted by 3:30 PM on the third working day following the publishing of the ineligibility list (e.g. if the list is published on a Wednesday, an appeal must be filed by 3:30 PM on the following Monday.)  Appeals received after that time will not be considered.  The principal must act on the request within three working days with an approval or disapproval or schedule an appointment with the school board of directors to consider the matter.  Any decision to deny the request by the principal may be appealed to the school board of directors.