New Year New Rules

What if a weekend party is held and attended by athletes and activities members alike? What if that party gets busted and starters and club presidents are cited? While administrators have dealt with these issues in the past, the rules are tightening up.

“The point in doing this was to improve the policy from last year. The main part of that is adding the restorative expectations of the things that the athlete would have to do to get back on the team if they had an issue,” Activities Director Tracy Douglas said.

The new rules have three tiers. The first is for out of character behavior. This tier says that students that are suspended from school are not permitted to be on school grounds during the time of their suspension and therefore may not practice or participate in athletic contests during their time of suspension. Tier two is when the strikes come in.Strike one means the student will not be eligible to play at least 25 percent of the season. Douglas hopes this one will curb most of the violations.

“The addition to tier one is more of an renforcement to make sure that the students know how to act in school,” Douglas said.

The following tiers include tier two and three. Tier two which has three strikes is used if a student is caught doing drugs. The addition to this tier is a drug test that is required to return to practice. In Strike two the student will not be able to participate for 50 percent of the regular season. Strike three is for the students getting caught distributing alcohol or drugs. Drug testing and possible treatment will be involved in this tier. They will be arrested by law enforcement for felony offense.

Students who participate in sports and other activities are in support of the changes in the policy.

“I think that it’s alright. I think that students are not going to get in trouble any more due to the consequences,” senior Blake Craig said.

However, the cost will be worth it.

“I think it’s great, I feel excited about it. Hopefully we won’t have repeated issues. Things like the restorative steps. like taking a drug test before returning, will be useful. Hopefully this will stop usage,” Douglas said.

Not only will the policy affect student participation in sports, but those involved in activities. This includes activities such as choir, band and theater. It extends to things such as National Honor Society and Student Council. Students will be held to this higher standard across the board.