By JEFF MORRIS
An addition proposed by the Bedford Central Policy Committee to an existing district policy that allows students in grades 10 through 12 to receive physical education credit through an outside program, was the subject of extended discussion at the Oct. 30 Board of Education meeting.
The revision would add an additional section, titled “Playing on Multiple Teams,” which states that effective July 1, 2025, “Junior and Senior students who play on multiple varsity sports teams may enter into an Athletics Option Contract for only one of their seasons.”
It notes, “The purpose of the Athletic Option (taking an alternative to PE class) is to provide time for students to catch up on their academic studies since playing on varsity teams during several seasons of the school year is a significant time commitment.”
Trustee Betsy Sharma said that as a member of the policy committee, she was glad to see the policy recommendation come before the board, but as a board member, she would like to see the athletic option remain as is.
“If a student is participating in a varsity sport and spending that many hours after school, it seems reasonable to me that that student can use the PE period for study,” she said. “The question has come up in discussion, What if that student doesn’t use that for study?” She said she didn’t think any seniors or high schoolers are actually monitored to make sure that they’re looking at a book or studying, that it was up to the students to manage their own time. Sharma added, “To me, it’s very reasonable to give that PE period to a student, a varsity athlete, for the seasons that he or she is playing a sport after school. It takes away study time, you’re getting the exercise you need — probably more than the PE period — and it’s a reasonable exchange to me.”
Trustee Robert Mazurek asked whether anyone had asked the principal of Fox Lane High School, Jennifer Amos, about it, and said his recollection was that a change was made by the athletic director, Adam Lodewick, at the beginning of this year, which was reversed without the board meeting. Sharma said the athletic director had actually recommended doing away with the policy altogether, and a compromise was to make it effective for one season.
“Before next meeting we can make sure that Dr. Amos has weighed in on this officially,” she said.
Mazurek recalled they were presented with three options by the athletic director and chose one of them, but they hadn’t really met to review the policy, and hadn’t gotten input from those in the high school. Board president Gilian Klein wanted to get some sense of students utilizing it in a productive way. “My example when we first started talking about this,” she said, “was I could see it if there’s a student with an IEP,” or a student with a heavy course load who has to put in even more time than an average student, and has to attend a practice every day, “getting the buy back of a study hall could be huge.”
According to Mazurek, “How it went down was, we got a recommendation from the athletic director, who does this — that’s his job; there’s only two board members who even have kids in the high school at this table. And then we said, ‘No, we’re not going to do that, because …’ So again, let’s get the answers from the people in the building, who make these choices in management, and decide.”
Trustee Lisa Mitchell thought it would be helpful to find out what the curricular implications are — to know how it impacts enrollment in PE classes. Klein said it could only decrease enrollment in those classes.
Superintendent Robert Glass said he had done a cursory check, and it doesn’t seem to impact enrollment significantly, but he only knew that anecdotally. He said he would let Amos know what information he had provided to the board and would have a conversation with her about it, and could invite her to the next policy committee meeting for a more in-depth discussion, along with the athletic director.
“In lieu of that, I could certainly convey the information and have a conversation, and convey back to you the outcome of their thoughts around how it affects enrollment and how it affects school culture and climate, certain circumstances they may have seen that we haven’t even thought about,” Glass said.
He added a certain amount of that has gone on, but has not been laid out in a transparent form in a discussion or document.
The policy discussion was tabled, but Glass asked if the student board members present would like to offer any anecdotal comments. Both were very much in favor of not only keeping the option, but of expanding it.