BOE panel majority
would scrap 2.0 rule

Four of the six say they would
dismantle it; public hearing tomorrow

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

If a Board of Education subcommittee had the final say, the 2.0 rule would be history after tomorrow night.

A majority of members of the six-person Student Services Subcommittee said last night that they favor dismantling the rule that requires students participating in extracurricular activities like sports to maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average.

A public hearing will be held at the subcommittee's meeting tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. The site will be the BOE meeting room on the fourth floor of the Department of Education Building. Dr. John Mike Compton, chairman of the panel tasked with reviewing the controversial rule, said testimony will be heard "for as long as it takes."

Lined up in favor of eliminating the 2.0 rule are Compton, Ron Nakano, Keith Sakata, and Lex Brodie.

Brodie bristled as he called the 2.0 rule "a copout for the schools not doing their job."

Nakano, previously a strong supporter of the rule, has done a complete about-face and now calls it "academic discrimination."

Four votes would officially forward the proposal to scrap the 2.0 rule to the full board when it meets on Aug. 7. But Brodie, who would be the fourth vote, said he will not attend the hearing due to a prior commitment.

BOE chairwoman Karen Knudsen said last night she wouldn't go along with the majority of her subcommittee. Knudsen said she favors keeping the rule in place with some modifications.

The only subcommittee members who side with Knudsen on the issue are Winston Sakurai and Dr. Mitsugi Nakashima.

But Nakashima will be on the mainland tomorrow and that apparently leaves Sakurai to argue the case for keeping a modified version of the 2.0 rule.

That sets up a 3-1 vote in favor of scrapping. But it won't be a majority of the subcommittee membership, so both majority and minority proposals likely will make it to the full BOE meeting next month.

Therein lies the 2.0 rule's chance to survive.

Sakurai favors waiving the standard for freshmen but requiring it for 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.

He also would allow students falling below 2.0 to practice with their teams.

"I think the full board might be more inclined to support this," Sakurai said.

Knudsen said she agrees. But while she likes the practice proposal, Knudsen is not sold on the freshman waiver.

"I would eliminate the 2.0," Compton said. "But our policy should be that those students falling below that level will be given special attention by the schools. Right now that help system is not in place. Only if you've got a learning disability do you get special help."

Compton said he is adamantly sticking to his view that many good, hard-working students are unfairly chastised by the 2.0 rule.

"The message is, 'Even though you work hard and come to school, you're going to get punished.' It encourages them to look elsewhere for values. I think that if a person does his/her best, you don't punch them in the face. It's counterproductive."

Brodie said schools should not use the 2.0 rule as a crutch or an excuse to not help students better their academic standing.

He also said it's important to remember that athletics are just a small part of the picture in the 2.0 question. The rule affects eligibility for everything from sports to debate clubs to band.

Sakurai said his proposal to soften the 2.0 rule has some teeth.

"Freshmen get a waiver but there is no way they'll succeed in high school unless the basics are met in their freshman year," he said.

"It would allow them to make mistakes but not penalize them until their second year."

He said that permitting sophomores, juniors and seniors to practice without the 2.0 standard would allow them to stay close to their coaches and advisers, who could help them get their grades up.

"The grade requirement for graduation is 1.8, and so the same GPA should be held for participation," Sakata said.

"What's more important are citizenship, responsibility, attending school and submitting homework. These are just as important as a 2.0 GPA. I don't think a person should be punished if he doesn't get a C average."

Sakata said he also is concerned that "borderline" students are discouraged from taking more advanced courses for fear that they might not be able to maintain a 2.0 average if they did.

But Sakata said that if the 2.0 can't be eliminated completely, he will go along with Sakurai's plan.