On a four-point scale, that would make for a paltry grade-point average of 0.66.

Most Puyallup student athletes perform at a much higher level, and the district’s academic eligibility standards mirror those of the association that governs school athletics and activities across the state.

But in an era of rising academic expectations, Puyallup is considering following the majority of other districts by setting scholarship standards above those of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

The association itself is considering stricter standards, as well.

“After all, why are kids here?” said Rick Wells, athletics director of the 20,900-student Puyallup district. “They’re here for an education and to improve their skills to be a successful, productive person and prepare to get a job. Athletics and activities are frosting on the cake.”

The association’s low academic bar has contributed to a statewide patchwork of rules and fueled concerns of an uneven playing field.

Districts and individual schools can have more stringent requirements than the association – and 84 percent of its 800 member schools do, said Mike Colbrese, the association’s executive director.

Puyallup doesn’t yet have a proposal of how it would change its academic eligibility rules.

But if it required athletes to maintain a C average, a standard common among other districts, including Tacoma and Peninsula, it could significantly alter the makeup of some teams – or perhaps change how well kids perform in the classroom to qualify to play.

According to a News Tribune analysis, one in five of this fall’s varsity football players had a grade-point average below a 2.0 – or a C – at Puyallup High School, a perennial powerhouse in 4A football, and at Rogers High School, this year’s champion in the South Puget Sound League 4A South Division.

About one in six varsity football players earned lower than a 2.0 GPA at Emerald Ridge High School.

Tom Ingles, head football coach at Puyallup High, expressed concerns if 20 percent of his players were deemed ineligible because of academics. He suspects the rate of football players with low grades is similar to that in the general student population.

“We have lots of kids in co-curricular programs,” such as drama, art club or student government, the social studies teacher said. Echoing a concern of several coaches interviewed for this story, he said, “Why are we singling out athletes?”

Ingles said he supports high academic standards and that he works to motivate players to excel in the classroom. But he fears that tougher requirements could have a disproportionate effect on minority and non-native English-speaking students.

If a new policy eliminated more students, Ingles said he would worry more about losing the chance to influence kids than his team’s win-loss record.

“The thing I’ve always believed about athletics is that this is a hook to keep them interested in school,” said Ingles, who’s coached 36 years at various high schools. “This is an opportunity for them to shine in an area where they may not do well in their math classes.”

The Auburn School District has no plans to depart from the statewide academic minimum, said Rob Swaim, the district’s athletic director.

“We stay with the WIAA standard because we want as many kids as possible participating in athletics,” Swaim said. “We believe students participating in athletics are better citizens and do a better job academically.”

The Sumner School District, however, has found that when it raises its eligibility requirements, 90 to 95 percent of students are meeting the goal within three years, said Tim Thomsen, the district’s athletic director.

This school year, Sumner began requiring athletes to pass all classes and earn at least a 2.0 grade-point average. Previously, teens faced the same GPA requirement, but could fail one course.

“We wanted to keep kids more accountable,” Thomsen said. “They get the privilege of wearing the school uniform, playing in front of people, and getting extra recognition. We say it’s not a right; it’s a privilege to do those things, but there’ll be a higher standard for attendance, behavior and academics.”

Mount Tahoma High School graduate Alex King has experienced the frustration of missing games due to lagging grades.

He sat out from the basketball team his entire junior year after failing to meet the Tacoma School District’s 2.0 GPA requirement two years ago. The 6-foot-6 forward started for the T-Birds when he was a senior last year – until his GPA dipped below the minimum just before a West Central District playoff game. The team would have had a better shot at winning the contest with King and two other key players who became ineligible, their coach said at the time.

“I felt bad,” King said. “I heard it from a lot of my teachers and kids at school.”

Still, King said of academic eligibility standards: “I think it’s a good idea so kids keep their grades up.”

Now a starting center for the division-leading Lower Columbia Community College basketball team in Longview, he’s enjoying his first season without academic eligibility problems.

The 19-year-old said he’s learned from his mistakes, especially the consequence of cutting class.

“If I want to live my life good, I have to go to school and get my grades up the first time,” he said.

THE PROPOSED NEW STANDARD

The WIAA proposal calls for student athletes taking five or more classes to pass one more course than currently required. At schools with a six-class schedule, for instance, athletes would need to pass five classes, instead of the current four, to remain eligible.

If the association approves the change in April, it would mark the first amendment to the statewide eligibility rule in more than 20 years, Colbrese said.

Like Washington, several other state athletic associations, including ones in Idaho and Oregon, require students to pass a certain number of classes depending on their total class schedule in order to compete in sports. But there’s no typical academic eligibility rule among the 50 states, said Chris Boone, publications editor with the National Federation of State High School Associations.

In Louisiana, for instance, student athletes must pass at least five subjects and earn at least a 1.5 GPA. New Jersey 10th- through 12th-graders must have passed 25 percent of their required graduation credits in a school year in order to compete the following fall semester. Maryland requires local school systems to set standards ensuring student athletes progress toward graduation, according to a survey by the Education Commission of the States.

WIAA officials wanted to revisit the eligibility rule in light of the multitude of changes in education in the past decade, Colbrese said. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to meet ever-rising testing goals. This year’s seniors are the first who must meet tougher graduation requirements, including passing parts of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Even more restrictions could be in the offing in some districts.

Athletic directors in the South Puget Sound League last year discussed whether their schools should have a common eligibility standard based on the WASL, said University Place schools athletics director Terry Jenks.

“At that time, we didn’t want a league standard,” he recalled. “Each individual district would deal with it as we saw fit.”

Now University Place and Sumner districts are collecting WASL results from their athletes to consider the impact of eventually tying WASL performance to athletic eligibility, said Jenks and Sumner’s Thomsen.

Puyallup athletes could have a new eligibility standard by this fall, though the committee of athletic directors and students that’s studying the issue stresses that it’s too early to tell how or when rules would change.

Puyallup’s junior and senior high school sports annually attract 5,000 players, including some students who go out for multiple teams, said athletics director Wells. Roughly 2 percent to 3 percent of those who apply to play can’t under the existing WIAA academic eligibility rule, he estimated.

At The News Tribune’s request, Puyallup released grade-point averages of individual players, without their names, on last fall’s varsity football and current basketball rosters at Emerald Ridge, Puyallup and Rogers high schools. The News Tribune analyzed the data, taking into consideration that many districts require athletes to maintain a 2.0 average.

Based on their grades in spring 2007, the grading period that determined initial eligibility for fall and winter sports:

 • In boys basketball, two of 12 players on the Emerald Ridge team, two of 12 on the Puyallup team and one of 13 on the Rogers team had a GPA lower than 2.0. At least half of the roster on each team had GPAs of 3.0 – a B average – or higher. One Puyallup and two Rogers students had straight A’s.

 • In girls basketball, all players on all three high school teams had a 2.0 or higher GPA, and each team had an overall average above 3.2. Emerald Ridge and Puyallup each had one player with a 4.0.

 • In football, 11 of Puyallup’s 56 team members and 11 of Rogers’ 57 players had a GPA lower than 2.0. Emerald Ridge, with 52 players, had eight students with a GPA below 2.0.

Five players among the three teams had a 1.0 (D) or lower GPA.

Academic stars outnumbered the stragglers. Thirty to 40 percent of players on each roster earned a 3.0 or higher. Seven football players among the teams earned straight A’s.

“Typically our student athletes are above-average students,” said Puyallup Superintendent Tony Apostle.

The district is looking to raise academic standards, he said, “to make sure we send the appropriate message and provide the necessary support to those students who are falling behind.”

Mike Schick, athletics coordinator at Puyallup’s Edgemont Junior High, and Puyallup High bowling coach Ann Carpenter welcome the prospect of higher academic standards.

“It’s paramount that our task, number one, is to make sure we’re educating students,” Schick said. “They can play basketball at the Y.”

Carpenter recalled one bowler who pulled up failing grades in two classes last school year to stay on the Puyallup High bowling team. This year, the girl wanted to return but she was failing four classes. Carpenter told her it was no use turning out.

“If they’re not doing well,” Carpenter said, “they either need to get help to stay on the team or they need to stay in school (and off the team) and work really hard.”

A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

Since districts are allowed to set higher academic rules than the WIAA minimum, standards vary widely.

In the South Sound, at least 11 districts and three private schools require their athletes earn a C or a C-minus average.

Of those, at least six districts and one private school also require students to pass all their classes in the semester before or during the sport season. Conversely, 10 districts allow students to fail one or more classes during the sport season and retain eligibility.

Districts call for different grade-check intervals, suspension periods or appeal processes.

While the WIAA leaves initial enforcement of eligibility rules to schools, buildings also differ in who monitors compliance.

For instance, at Bellarmine Preparatory School, athletic director Ed Ploof checks athletes’ grades three times each semester at six-week intervals. He makes sure ineligible students sit out of competition until they raise their marks to comply with the schoolwide rules.

At Spanaway Lake High School, athletic coordinator Debbie Bentler collects grades to determine initial eligibility and ensures that coaches continue monitoring the marks. Basketball coaches Rob Smith and Ken Leise check their players’ classroom performance every two weeks and enforce suspensions under rules the two coaches designed.

With so much variation in eligibility requirements, the question looms: Do teams with lower academic thresholds have an advantage over teams with higher eligibility standards?

Opinions among athletic officials and educators differ. Many say the effect of varying requirements is either negligible or difficult to generalize.

“It depends on whether the (academically struggling) kid is an impact player,” said Puyallup’s Wells. “Who knows that from one year to the next? … If I’m 7 foot and can’t play, that’s going to impact our basketball team.”

In University Place, where Curtis High School athletes must maintain a 2.0 GPA, athletic director Jenks hears complaints when rumors circulate about opposing players’ academic performance in districts with the WIAA minimum. Though Jenks disagrees with their view, he said, “Some (UP) coaches are concerned those players wouldn’t have to work as hard in the classroom as our athletes did and, therefore, gained an advantage in competition.”

Federal Way and Franklin Pierce districts have especially stringent rules.

For at least the past 12 years, Federal Way has required athletes to earn a C-minus or higher in every class, except at the six-week grade check, when they can have a D as long as their overall GPA is at least 2.6 and they have no F’s.

The rule doesn’t appear to have affected the district’s ability to field championship teams, said Federal Way deputy superintendent Mark Davidson.

“I think our level of success in sports is pretty good,” Davidson said. “I certainly don’t see anything to indicate that if we didn’t have this rule we would have won more.”

FRANKLIN PIERCE GETS TOUGH

Franklin Pierce, a high-poverty district laboring to raise student achievement, toughened its eligibility standard two years ago out of concerns that too many athletes were foundering academically.

The old policy, for instance, required grade checks only at the quarter and the midquarter. “Teachers were coming to us and saying, ‘How come that student is participating in the game?’” said district athletic director Wendy Malich. “‘He has an F in my class.’”

In fall 2006, the Parkland-area district implemented a new policy requiring athletes to pass all classes during the sport season and get grades checked every two weeks. A complicating factor: The district issues no D’s; all Franklin Pierce students must earn a C, performing at 70 percent or higher, to pass a course.

Implementation proved challenging. Coaches felt they had little voice in developing the policy, which was suggested by the athletic department’s Captain’s Council, an advisory group of a half-dozen student athletes. Many teens struggled to meet the eligibility requirement.

For instance, two good players on Franklin Pierce High’s football team were deemed ineligible under the new policy the day before a first-round, state playoff game that the Cardinals wound up losing in 2006, recalled Howard Lutton, the school’s head football coach.

Though he wouldn’t say it cost the team the game, Lutton said, “Any time you change a lineup and a player has not seen the (play) time and had the chemistry with the other group of players, it’s significant.”

At Washington High that same fall, starting receiver Willy Woo said he was passing most of his classes with A’s or B’s, but failing trigonometry. He played the season’s first three games, but became ineligible under the academic policy. He quit after he was unable to raise the math grade.

The 18-year-old said he simply couldn’t understand the likes of sine, cosine and tangent well enough to pass “trig.”

Had Woo remained for the season, Washington head football coach Chris Nofo said, “by far, we would have done better. He was a big part of our offense.”

That year, in 2006, the team record was one win and nine losses, one win fewer than the previous year. This season, Woo came back for a successful season as quarterback and a corner, and was named an all-league first team athlete and defensive back in the 2A Nisqually League. Washington’s record was 4-7, and the Patriots made it to the first round of the 2A playoffs.

Woo, a senior, thinks it’s unfair that failing one class can prohibit players from competing, especially when it’s tougher in Franklin Pierce to pass a course than in other districts.

“I don’t think it should be there,” he said of the provision. “You have the best grades in other classes, but have trouble in one class and can’t even play the sport. … Other schools have D’s (to pass) and we don’t.”

And Woo said there’s no truth to the suspicion that teachers fudge on grades to help athletes stay eligible, at least not at Washington High.

“A lot of teachers take the time to help you get your work done,” he said, “but they won’t give you (a passing grade) ’cause you’re an athlete.”

Though he doesn’t like the punitive aspect of the eligibility policy, Woo conceded, “It’s pushing everyone to not fail. They are working harder.”

The district revised the policy this school year to allow more leeway. Now students can compete even if they’re failing one class in the 65 to 69.9 percent range, equal to a D to a D-plus in other districts – but they must be passing the class within three weeks.

Said Nofo: “That 5 percent helped a lot of our kids out. At the same time, it’s not an even playing field when you go against schools that don’t have the same grading policy. They are able to field their team without a problem.”

This fall, Franklin Pierce High’s football team made it to the 3A state playoffs. Still, 15 prospective players who were unable to meet the academic threshold left the football program and 85 teammates, Lutton said.

“We have a great number of kids succeeding athletically and academically in our school, but that bottom edge where we can keep people motivated is becoming more and more difficult due to the (eligibility) barriers,” said Lutton, a 30-year veteran coach.

Stressing that he supports strong academic achievement, he added, “If you tell me to jump over a stick, I can do it. If you tell me to jump over a higher stick, some will have more difficulty.”

Athletic director Malich disagrees that the academic policy puts Franklin Pierce teams at a disadvantage. She believes students are realizing they need to work harder in class.

“We’re in education and athletics is extracurricular,” she said. “These kids are students first.”

COACHES’ CALL IN BETHEL

The Bethel School District uses the WIAA minimum as its districtwide standard. But unlike Puyallup, it allows coaches to choose whether to set higher academic rules for their teams.

At Spanaway Lake High, golf, tennis and wrestling teams follow the state standard. Football coach John Robak uses the WIAA standard, but mandates a before-school “Breakfast Club” study hall for players with a D or an F. Coaches in baseball, track and other sports impose a variety of additional academic requirements ranging from no F’s in any class to a C-minus or better in all classes.

Basketball coaches Smith and Leise require players to maintain a 2.0 overall GPA and earn no F’s to play in games.

The handful of players with D’s or F’s must attend a 90-minute study hall in Smith’s classroom twice a week after school. Most teammates willingly join them, saying they prefer to study together and would be too tired after a game to do homework.

The varsity team’s overall GPA is 2.57.

Senior Todd Yakubovich keeps up his grades to ensure playing time.

“It’s extra motivation,” the varsity forward said. “If you don’t have the sports, it’s harder to push yourself.”

Smith and Leise started the policy and study halls when Smith became head coach three years ago. He believes the grade policy and study time correlate to the team’s steady improvement on the court the past three years. His first year, the varsity squad won two games and lost 18. So far this season, the team has a 12-8 record, and is tied for third in the South Puget Sound League South.

“It weeds out the kids who have negative attitudes or are not willing to work hard,” said Smith. “We end up with a group of kids who are better at following directions, who work together, who understand the big picture a little more.”

Jarae Cheatham, who earns A’s and B’s, voluntarily participates in the study halls. He thinks teams with higher academic standards actually have an advantage over those whose players perform at the WIAA minimum.

“If you think you can slough off in the classroom and come after school and play and have fun that’s not real,” said Cheatham, a junior varsity forward and center. “It’s bad for their work ethic.”

STAYING IN THE GAME

Despite the benefits of raising academic standards, educators and sports supporters realize potential downsides exist.

Ed Ploof, a member of the WIAA executive board and athletic director at Bellarmine Preparatory School, believes making eligibility standards too strict causes some athletes to shy away from rigorous courses for fear that they could fail or cause their GPA to fall.

“For some students who struggle academically, being involved in any school activity, whether ASB (student government), drama, band or sports is a good thing for them,” Ploof said. “It keeps them engaged in school, teaches them how to be prepared, and to work with other people.”

Coaches and athletic directors point out that students in sports and extracurricular activities tend to perform better in school than other students, an observation confirmed by numerous studies and surveys.

Higher academic standards would likely affect male-dominated sports more than female teams, because high school girls tend to perform better academically than boys, said Casey Cox, Puyallup’s executive director of secondary schools. Sports with large turnouts, such as football and wrestling, could also feel more of a hit.

But junior Tyler Van Sligtenhorst, a quarterback and safety on the Rogers football team, thinks players should be able to earn better grades than the Puyallup district’s current minimum.

“If a student athlete can learn plays for football and basketball, which can be complicated, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to earn a C-minus in their classes,” said Van Sligtenhorst, who holds a 3.1 GPA. “If they love sports, they’ll find a way. … They’ll put in more effort to reach that goal.”