ACADEMIC/ATTENDANCE ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for an activity, students participating must
- be enrolled or dual-enrolled in FHS;
- have good school attendance and attend classes at least one half of a day on the day of the contest/game/performance, unless prior arrangements are made with the administration;
- have earned passing grades in all courses: eligibility will be determined at the end of each grading periods
- be under twenty years of age to participate in athletics, music or speech activities;
- be enrolled in high school for four consecutive years or less to participate in athletics, music or speech activities;
- have not been a member of or trained with or participated in college athletic contests or professional sports;
- have met all transfer requirements, or be eligible under state law and regulations if the student is an open enrollment student.
ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY
- Academic Eligibility will be determined at the end of each grading period. Per state rule, “if at the end of any grading period a contestant is given a failing grade in any course for which credit is awarded, the contestant is ineligible to dress for and compete in the next occurring interscholastic athletic contests and competitions in which the contestant is a contestant for 30 consecutive calendar days.”
LETTERS AND AWARDS
All lettering and end-of-season awards will be determined by the coaches/sponsors of each activity.
GOOD CONDUCT RULE
Students who participate in extra curricular activities are representing their school through school sponsored events and therefore are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that represents the ideals, principals and standards of the Fairfield Community School District. Students who choose not to follow the Extracurricular Activities Policy regulations will be subject to disciplinary procedures as set forth in the guidelines below.
A student may lose eligibility under the Extracurricular Activities Policy for any of the following behaviors:
- possession, use, or purchase of tobacco or tobacco look-alike products, regardless of the student’s age, if the offense results in a suspension;
- possession, use, or purchase of alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine;
- being in a car or in attendance at a function/gathering/party where alcohol or other drugs are being consumed illegally by minors (joint possession);
- possession, use, or purchase of illegal drugs or the unauthorized possession, use, or purchase of otherwise lawful drugs, including look-alike drugs;
- engaging in any act that would be grounds for arrest or citation in the criminal or juvenile court system, excluding minor traffic offenses, regardless of whether the student was cited, arrested, convicted, or adjudicated for the act (stealing, damage to school property or that of school personnel, etc.);
- inappropriate or offensive conduct such as fighting, insubordination, hazing or harassment of others if the offense results in criminal charges.
- Fairfield High School administration may determine that there has been a violation of its good conduct policy whether or not criminal charges have been filed, whether a student’s trial is pending, or whether or not the student is found guilty by a court of law as long as there is reasonable evidence to support the finding of a good conduct policy violation.
** Involvement in acts of a more serious nature will be dealt with more severely.
During his/her high school career, a student who, after a hearing, is found to be in violation of the Extracurricular Activities Policy will be deemed ineligible for extracurricular contests / performances for a period of time as described below.
1st offense – ¼ of contests/performance dates, and if available and appropriate then the student and the parent/guardian/head of household will be required
to complete school approved treatment programs
2nd offense – ½ contest/performance dates of the season, and if available and appropriate then the student and the parent/guardian/head of household will be required to complete school approved treatment programs
3rd offense – 1 calendar year of ineligibility. A student who has a third violation of the Good Conduct Policy may elect to complete a more extensive school approved treatment program at the student’s / parent / guardian / head of household’s expense. If the student completes treatment and agrees to waive confidentiality (allowing information to be available to school officials); the student’s discipline for the third violation may be reduced by up to 50%.
4th offense – No longer able to participate in high school activities
** These regulations are "minimum" and a coach/sponsor may impose a stronger form of discipline depending on the situation.
** Multiple offenses cannot be served concurrently.
** ¼ and ½ contests/performance dates will be calculated using the total number of regular season contest / performance dates scheduled for the activity. The calculation will be rounded down to a whole number. For example, if the football team has 9 regular season games scheduled then ¼ of the football season would be calculated as 2 games.
** If a contest is cancelled during a student’s period of ineligibility for a good conduct violation and this contest is not rescheduled then the cancelled contest will count as a part of the student’s ineligibility period. If during a student’s period of ineligibility, however, a contest is cancelled and rescheduled then the student’s ineligibility period can either be extended to the next scheduled event or served on the rescheduled date of the cancelled event.
INELIGIBILITY
The period of ineligibility begins immediately upon a finding of a violation if the student is currently engaged in an extracurricular activity. If the student is not currently in an activity, or if the discipline cannot be completed during the current activity, the discipline will be carried over and completed when the student decides to go out for the next activity or contest. A student ineligible for contests / performances will attend and participate in all practices or rehearsals at the direction of the coach/sponsor.
** A student with an academic or good conduct violation will not be allowed to join an extracurricular activity in process unless the coach/sponsor of the activity in process provides written permission for them to do so. If the coach/sponsor provides written permission for them to do so then the student will begin serving their ineligibility period in this activity.
** A student who is serving an academic or good conduct ineligibility period in an extracurricular activity must complete the entire season in order for the ineligibility period to count as served. If the student does not remain out for the entire season after serving an ineligibility period then the same ineligibility period will carry over to the next extracurricular activity in which the student participates.
** If a student with an academic or good conduct violation is participating in multiple extracurricular activities during the same season then the ineligibility period will be applied to all activities. For example, a student with a 1st offense of the good conduct policy who is currently participating in track and soccer at the same time will be ineligible for ¼ of the track contests and ¼ of the soccer contests.
** If a student with an academic or good conduct violation is participating in activities where seasons overlap, then the student will be ineligible for all overlapping activities until the ineligibility period is completely served. If the ineligibility period cannot be totally served in the 1st activity, then the remainder of the ineligibility period will be applied to and served in the next activity(ies).
** A student who is ineligible for a contest/performance for academic or good conduct reasons may travel with the team to away contests/performances
as long as the travel does not involve an early dismissal from school. If the travel involves an early dismissal then the ineligible student will remain
in class and not travel with the team to the contest/performance.
** A student with an academic or good conduct violation who does not participate in extracurricular activities for a calendar year from their violation will not be required to serve the ineligibility period if they choose to participate in an activity after a calendar year from the violation. Their violation, however, will still count towards their cumulative number of violations. For example, a sophomore who has their 1st good conduct violation but does not go out for an extracurricular activity until their senior year will not have to sit out ¼ of their contest. If this same student has another good conduct violation during their senior year then this violation would be considered a 2nd offense and result in 2nd offense consequences.
** A student cannot serve an academic or good conduct ineligibility period as a team manager. School Administration and/or Coaches may choose to ban manager duties for students with academic or good conduct violations.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. Admission Prior to Determination: If a violation occurs prior to the official beginning of a season and law enforcement or school officials are not aware, or not involved with this violation, then students may self-report (turn themselves in) to the school officials without losing any eligibility. The discipline for this student would be 15 hours of activity service that would be administered by the coach/sponsor of the sport/activity in which the student would next be involved. These hours must be completed prior to the first contest/performance in order for the student to be eligible. When completed, the coach/sponsor will file a copy with the administration. This situation can only happen one time during any given school year and only prior to the official beginning of the season for that sport/activity.
** It should be noted, however, that if students turn themselves in for a violation of this policy, and the school official already has this information, or this student has already been charged or contacted by the police, then the discipline will be handled as if it were after the official beginning of the season. This activity service is counted as the student’s first violation.
2. If a student finds himself/herself in a situation (vehicle, room, function, gathering, party, etc.) where alcohol or other drugs are being consumed illegally by minors, the student’s options are
a. leave immediately or
b. stay and risk the loss of eligibility as determined by the Good Conduct Policy.
STUDENT TRANSFER
If a student transfers in from another Iowa school district and the student had not yet completed a period of ineligibility for a violation of the Extracurricular Activities Policy in the previous district, the student shall be ineligible if the administration determines that there is general knowledge in our district of this violation. In all cases the school administration, activities director and coach/sponsor or the activity/sport will discuss each situation before a decision is made.
DUE PROCESS PROCEDURE
In carrying out these regulations, all students will be afforded due process, which includes procedures for a committee to discuss with a student their involvement in a possible violation of the Extracurricular Activities Policy. The following procedure is set up to ensure that all students are afforded due process:
1. The high school administration will meet with the student and listen to his/her possible involvement.
2. If the student admits to being involved, the high school administration/activities director will notify the student and parent of the appropriate discipline.
3. If the student denies the involvement, a hearing committee consisting of, at a minimum, the activities director and the high school administration will meet with the student and student's parents to further explore the violation. If the committee determines that the student was involved, then the administration will notify the student and parents of the decision and resulting discipline.
4. Parent notification related to paragraphs 2 and 3 above.
- Administration will call parent/guardian/head of household and send home a notification letter via U.S. Mail. When the parent/guardian/head of household cannot be reached by phone, then the school will consider the notification process complete by the notification letter sent home.
APPEAL PROCESS
Step I Any student who is found by the hearing committee to have violated the
Extracurricular Activities Policy may appeal by contacting the superintendent. The discipline will be in effect pending the superintendent’s decision.
Step II If the student is still dissatisfied, he or she may appeal to the school board by filing a written appeal with the board secretary at least 24 hours prior to the next board meeting. The review by the board will be in closed session unless the student’s parent (or the student, if the student is 18) requests an open session. The grounds for appeal to the school board are limited to the following: the student did not violate the Extracurricular Activities Policy; the student was given inadequate due process in the investigation and determination; or the discipline is in violation of the Handbook Rule or Board Policy. The discipline will remain in effect pending the outcome of the meeting with the board.
If the school board reverses the decision of the hearing committee, the student shall be immediately eligible and shall have any record of the ineligibility period and violation deleted from the student’s record.
PARENT AND STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We have read these Extracurricular Activities Policy Regulations and agree that when our son/daughter participates in the Fairfield High School activity/athletic program he/she will be expected to abide by these regulations.
______________________ __________________________
Parent Student
_________________ ____________________
Date Date
** THIS FORM MUST BE RETURNED TO COACH/SPONSOR PRIOR TO PARTICIPATION OF ACTIVITIES.
Approved: Feb. 11, 1985, Oct. 15, 2012, May 20, 2013, June 16, 2014, Dec 15, 2014, April 12, 2021
Reviewed: Aug. 8, 2005, Sep. 17, 2012, Apr. 5, 2013, Apr.28,2014, Oct 27, 2014, May 21, 2018, March 15, 2021
Revised: Mar. 10, 1996, Aug. 9, 1999, Jan. 10, 2000, Sep. 19, Sep. 17,2012, Apr. 5, 2013, Apr.28,2014, Oct 27, 2014, May 21, 2018, March 15, 2021
