Prince George County (Md.) Drops Controversial ’No E’ Rule

Gazette.com, Seth Elkin
http://www.gazette.net/article/20111031/SPORTS/710319902/1028/prince-georges-drops-8216-no-e-rule&template=gazette

The Prince George’s County Board of Education has eliminated the controversial “No E” rule that required high school students to pass all courses to be eligible for interscholastic sports. High school athletes must still maintain a 2.0 grade point average in order to play.

The move was announced at the board’s meeting on Thursday night, ending a 4-year-old policy that was largely unpopular among coaches. The change will not impact the current fall sports season, but any student who had at least a 2.0 GPA during the first quarter of the 2011-12 school year will be eligible for winter sports, which start preseason practices on Nov. 15.

As of Monday night, school system officials had not returned a message seeking comment on the timing of the change and the reasoning behind it.

“I’m shocked that it will be done mid-year and not done for the 2012-2013 season,” said Carl Rose, the athletic director and track coach at Charles H. Flowers High. “It was something that a lot of coaches thought was making their job a lot harder and was a disservice to the students.”

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association requires each county to have its own academic eligibility rules for athletes. No statewide standard exists, but in October a panel of school administrators and coaches recommended that the state board of education adopt a 2.0 GPA as the minimum standard throughout Maryland.

Prince George’s County’s repeal of the No E rule leaves three counties in Maryland that require both a 2.0 GPA and no failing grades. Two other counties require passing all classes, but do not have minimum GPAs.

“Coaches will still require students to do the best they can in their classes and try to make sure they don’t have failing grades,” said Prince George’s County Schools Athletic Director Earl Hawkins. “We don’t want failing grades. We know students will need to be well above 2.0 because the standards for getting into college are increasing. There’s no room for failure. Just because we’ve changed the standard doesn’t change the demand that we want kids to be successful academically. We’re still going to demand that kids work hard in the classroom.”

The No E rule has been a subject of criticism from coaches throughout the county, many of whom have claimed that it has prevented students from joining their teams. The Prince George’s Schools have not kept statistics on the numbers of athletes who were academically ineligible as a result of the No E rule, but Hawkins said it did not adversely affect participation.

“We hear it all the time, but participation numbers didn’t change drastically during the time it was in effect,” Hawkins said. “There was no significant difference in the numbers, and we went up in some categories.”

Henry A. Wise High football coach DaLawn Parrish applauded the move, adding that being involved in sports helps students improve their grades.

“The more people are surrounded by positive adults, the more you can save their life,” Parrish said. “If you look at all of the athletes’ GPAs while they’re playing it’s always higher than when they’re not playing because they’re always around an adult that cares about them and is pushing them to do good. When you alienate that population, all they do is harm to the school and they have no attachment to the school.”

Dropping the No E rule marked the second time since the beginning of the 2011-12 school year that the Prince George’s Schools have made a change in academic requirements for athletes. In August, the school system eliminated eligibility requirements for students in the first quarter of ninth grade. Previously, the 2.0/No E rule applied to ninth graders, and students who did not meet those standards in the fourth quarter of eighth grade were ineligible to play sports in the first quarter of ninth grade. All ninth graders are now eligible to play fall sports, but must earn a 2.0 GPA in their first quarter as freshmen in order to remain eligible.