What to Expect: P.E/ Band Waiver

Written by: Annabelle Williamson and Johan Satorre

On Tuesday February 26, the Visalia Unified School District’s board meeting debated whether or not a student’s fall season of marching band should be allowed to count as a semester’s worth of Physical Education credit.

The State of California’s education code mandates that 4 years of PE are to be completed before a student graduates high school. However, VUSD has already waived the last two years and only requires students to complete 2 years. Incoming students in any high school in Visalia Unified School District are required to take a PE class during their freshman year. Going into their sophomore year, they can substitute the second year of PE with taking a dance class or participating in a sport. Each season of sports or semester of dance completed counts as one semester of PE credit.

The current movement, lead by band students and parents, is lobbying the school district to allow each fall season of marching band to count as a semester of PE credit similar to a sport or a dance class. This been in discussion with the District Board for more than 4 years.

One point that was brought up consistently throughout the board meeting was California’s code for Physical Education, that students must complete 400 minutes of physical activity every school week. Angela Sanchez, VUSD area superintendent, in addressing the board indicated that parents feel band students meet this requirement in the fall marching season.

Proponents of the issue argue that by allowing band to count for PE credit, it grants greater educational opportunities to students. This is particularly significant to a students sophomore year, where their number of electives is very limited and they may not have been able to take band if they had to take PE instead.

An important detail brought up by Mrs. Sanchez is that VUSD currently does not enforce the California State law requiring 4 years of PE. Nor does VUSD consistently enforce the mandated six physical fitness requirements to waive the second year of PE for athletes. These standards include Aerobic Capacity, Body Composition, Abdominal Strength and Endurance, Trunk Extensor Strength and Flexibility, Upper Body Strength and Endurance, and Flexibility tests. A student must meet at least 5 of these 6 standards.

Opponents of this waiver request argue that since VUSD does not enforce these standards and has watered down much of the PE requirements, reducing it any more will result in students not receiving the necessary education to prepare them for a healthy life.

The February 26th meeting was a pre-read of this issue so the school board could educate itself about the issue. The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 12. At this meeting the board will be presented with a draft of the waiver policy for review. A second or third reading may be requested before any action is taken on this issue. A policy change may not go into effect until the 2020-2021 school year.