SAN MARCOS
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Getting out of gym class in San Marcos high schools will soon require more effort. In the past, students took two years of physical education classes to fulfill the number of PE credits needed to graduate, and then moved on to other electives. They didn't have to worry about passing tests.
But some high school students will have to take more than two years of PE if they can't pass a standardized state fitness test.
The San Marcos school board on Monday night discussed plans to adopt the state fitness standards that all districts must implement in the upcoming school year. The board will vote on the issue at its Aug. 25 meeting.
All school districts in the state must follow the new regulation this school year, said Gina Bishop, the district's assistant superintendent of instructional services. Students in San Marcos start school September 2.
The policy won't be retroactive, Bishop said. Students who will be sophomores or freshmen in September will be the first affected.
“I think students will take PE courses very seriously and their health will be improved because of it,” Bishop said.
The state fitness test measures competency in six areas, including cardiovascular endurance, upper body strength and abdominal strength. One of the six is that a student's body-mass index, calculated using height and weight, is within a healthy range.
Students must pass five areas either as ninth-graders or tenth-graders during an annual testing window to get out of taking PE as upperclassmen. If they can't pass, they will have to take PE class until they can. Failure to pass the test senior year would not prevent a student from graduating.
Students in grades five, seven and nine are assessed on the state test each year.
The district has taken steps to help students get more fit.
In January, it created a new fitness program at San Marcos Middle School for students having problems meeting the fitness standards. During PE classes, these students go to an exercise room called Club 49 – two portable classrooms joined together – and work out using stationary bicycles, elliptical trainers and exercise balls like those found in professional gyms. The goal is for them to burn calories and track their progress.
Bishop said the latest test results from the 2006-07 school year showed that about 63 percent of freshman passed the fitness test. She said she's anxious to see the results of this past school year's freshman class.
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
