New Berlin likely to vote on academic eligibility rules for sports

New Berlin - Dropping the grace period for academic eligibility for sports and other after school activities starting this fall is one of the rule changes that got a favorable hearing before the New Berlin School Board that will hold a final vote on it this summer.

If students' grades dip below 2.0 in any grading quarter, they would be ineligible for sports or co-curricular activities until their grades come up. This policy would be in line with many other school districts, said Courtney Fryatt, activity and athletic director at Eisenhower High School.

Also under the proposed policy, coaches would be notified when students' grades hit the danger zone of 2.25, she said.

Currently, students' whose grades fall below 2.0 have a grace period until the end of the next grading quarter to pull up to 2.0.

Fryatt said she could think of no top Eisenhower athletes whose eligibility would be affected by the proposed change.

The proposed rule changes also would make suspensions for alcohol, drug or tobacco infractions more sure, partly by spelling out the penalties.

Instead of a first-offense penalty of sitting out 20 percent of the season, the proposed rule would be sitting out 20 percent of WIAA maximum allowed contests. The policy also adds that the first-offense penalty would be missing four weeks of a co-curricular activity, replacing the more vague language in the current policy, said Julie Kader, activities and athletic director at New Berlin West High School.

Making the suspensions more sure would be that whatever is left unserved from the first offense would be tacked onto the penalty for any second offense. So, a second offense that would normally result in missing half the WIAA allowed games under the proposed rules would shoot up to missing 70 percent if the first suspension hadn't been served. The second offense also would mean eight weeks ineligibility for co-curriculars.

A third offense would mean a 12-month suspension for both sports and co-curriculars and a fourth offense would mean permanent ineligibility.

The new rules also introduce the concept of an honesty clause.

If students report being involved in offenses before school authorities start an investigation, their suspensions would be reduced by half.