U-High’s Student and Family handbook declares “School co-curricular activities (e.g., MUN, Debate)” as counting toward a student’s semester and year-long absence threshold, while U-High sports absences do not count towards this threshold — and the consequences for too many absences can include being dropped from a class, which will be noted on any high school transcript sent to colleges.
The U-High administration should adjust the policies surrounding student activities, so students who are absent because of participation in academic teams are treated the same as students who are absent due to athletic competition.
Sports play a large part in the lives of many students, but academic teams play an equally important role in students’ lives, both in terms of time commitment and workload, so treating academic teams as such disregards their importance and causes students to feel undervalued.
Furthermore, the success of academic teams improves the school’s outside standing and contributes to U-High’s reputation as an academically rigorous school, creating more incentive for new students to enroll.
Unlike sports, academic teams often reinforce skills students learn in class or give students new tools to bring to the school environment, making it logical to substitute academic conferences or tournaments for class work because they easily supplement one another.
By changing the absence policy to one where absences caused by both sport and academic teams do not count toward the absence threshold, the administration can foster an environment of students who feel supported by their school as they pursue their interests.
