COLUMBIANA Boosting athletes' grades

The study sessions aim to help athletes keep their eligibility to play.
COLUMBIANA -- Columbiana High School coaches will offer morning study sessions for student athletes kept off teams because of poor classroom performance.
Superintendent Patricia Hura said the school board is considering changing board policy to allow student athletes who participate in the study sessions to practice while they are working to bring up their grades.
Current board policy states athletes ineligible because of poor grades may neither participate nor practice with their teams.
Hura said Columbiana and United schools require a minimum grade-point average of 2.0 to participate. Most other area schools' minimum requirements range from 1.0 to 1.25, she said.
Athletics Director Bob Spaite, who teaches U.S. history and is the head varsity football coach, said once grades improve, students who attend the study sessions will be eligible to play as long as they keep their grade-point averages at or above minimum and continue to attend the study sessions, he said. Spaite said he has offered the study sessions after school for football players since he began coaching in 1994.
Spaite said having higher academic standards than most area schools often puts Columbiana at a disadvantage on the playing field.
He said the higher standards put a lot of pressure on student athletes, but the district's goal is for students to both participate in athletics and excel in the classroom.
He said the study sessions will likely be at 7 a.m., and many teachers are willing to come in early to assist.