Student athletes who want to skip physical education classes during the school day will have an easier time than first thought qualifying for the the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s altered Independent Study Physical Education (ISPE) program after staff dropped the proposed entry requirements from 10 hours a week to 7.5.
As it stands today, students only have to show 3.3 hours of activity per week to qualify, something officials said was out of step with the State of California, neighboring school districts and even Samohi’s own sports teams.
"We understand that the increase to 10 may feel like a big shift to some," said SMMUSD’s Director of Curriculum And Instruction, Dr. Ashley Benjamin, who presented the changes. "After considering community input, we are adjusting the high school hours to 7.5 hours, which is the average amount of time of all of our sports team practices."
District officials said the changes were prompted by compliance concerns identified during a California Department of Education federal progress monitoring review.
"While they did not audit ISPE specifically, the PE auditor did inform us that our ISPE model would be a finding as our program was out of compliance," Benjamin said.
Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton warned that further adjustments might be necessary following future state audits as 7.5 hours is still lower than most other programs.
"We may have to go up to 10 in the future," Shelton said. "We are an outlier when we made this adjustment to 7.5 hours. That is very different from what everything and everyone around us is doing."
According to district officials, neighboring school districts typically require either 10 or 15 hours for both their middle and high school ISPE programs and students who participate in high level sports are more than likely exceeding 10 hours a week.
The program is designed for students engaged in elite physical activities or high-level athletic competition not offered at their schools who need extra time in their day to facilitate the kind of intensive training their sports require. Middle school students will have to show 5 hours per week to qualify. Currently, 210 students participate district-wide.
Benjamin explained that the program is intended for "students who participate in advanced levels of competition through demanding regular out-of-school elite physical activity" or those "engaged in a preparation program for regional, state, national or Olympic level athletic competition."
District officials said the distinction between recreational and competitive programs is crucial in determining eligibility.
"ISP is for the student who is competing and training like their peer counterpart who is on a competitive team on campus," Benjamin said. "A novice trying out a program is not equivalent to a high school competitive athlete, where athletes are training up to 13 hours per week plus games."
However, the program has been used by some families to allow students to secure an additional elective.
"The purpose of ISPE is not to provide an additional elective," Benjamin said. "It is intended for the highly competitive athlete who spends extensive hours participating in their physical education."
The entire board said it would support staff’s recommendations, but with varying opinions on the program’s purpose.
Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein opposed reducing the requirement from the initially proposed 10 hours.
"I'm opposed to reducing it to 7.5 hours. The 10 hours seemed super appropriate to me," Richard said. "If you're in an elite or competitive sport or physical activity, performing arts, those students are doing 10 hours, if not more, per week."
Board member John Kean was on the other end of the spectrum and questioned the premise of having strict requirements.
"I don't like us determining and saying you're highly competitive, you're expert, you're this or that. I don't like arbitrary hurdles for kids," Kean said. "I've seen so many children blossom as 11th graders or 12th graders who stuck with the program for many years and became D1 athletes. We don't know what a child will become when they're athletic."
Kean suggested that the district's approach might be too rigid and could discourage students from pursuing athletic opportunities.
"I would err on the side of giving the child the opportunity," he said. "I don't want to ever tell a child that you're not competitive, you're not elite, you're not this or that, even if they aren't — let them try."
Regarding concerns about students "gaming the system," Kean took a more permissive stance.
"Fifteen to 20 percent of our kids are gaming a system to get an extra elective," he acknowledged. "The reason why people are gaming this is because they want more. They want something different. Maybe it's wrong. Maybe people are gaming the system. It doesn't bug me. It's just kids trying to explore something different."
Other changes to the program include reformatting the application, adding an activity log, requiring outside instructors to submit coaching certifications, and moving the appeals process under the Department of Education Services.
Applications will be posted on school websites with a six-week application window closing May 2. Applicants will be notified of their approval or denial by May 23.
