Pledge to participate: future of extracurriculars

The new pledge should be in use next school year.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Pupils planning to participate in extracurricular activities in Girard schools next year likely will be required to take a new, more stringent pledge before taking to the field or stage.
Jamie DeVore, school board member, said the district has required pupils in extracurricular activities to sign a pledge to stay free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco for at least the last 14 years. Penalties are placed upon those who break the pledge.
DeVore said the problem is that the pledge has been revised over the years, losing some of its teeth along the way.
As an example, DeVore said a pupil caught in a first offense involving alcohol now will be made to attend an intervention. He said the policy previously would call for that pupil to lose 20 percent play time for the year.
"We are looking at putting back some of those things that were there before but somehow were taken out," he said.
Three categories
DeVore said the current policy is broken into three categories -- alcohol, tobacco and drug use. Each category has its own set of punishments ranging from intervention to dismissal from the team or group for that particular activity. Three strikes in any category, however, will get the pupil removed from that particular activity or sport for the year.
The goal, DeVore said, is to make the rules and associated punishments more stringent and more uniform regardless of the category. He did not say what will be in the new pledge, but did say it will be similar to the more stringent pledge adopted by the district years ago.
"I am not sure why it evolved that way or slacked off in the last 14 years, but I believe it is time to take a look at it and tighten the buckle," he said. "We need to make the policy do what it was meant to do."
The new pledge, DeVore said, ultimately will make pupils think twice before participating in certain activities and realize there will be repercussions if they do.
DeVore said the new pledge should be devised and in use by 2006-07 school year.
jgoodwin@vindy.com