2151.1P Procedure - Interscholastic Activities

Coach's Duties
In accordance with district policy and the coach's job description, the coach has the duty to:
  • Instruct Participants: The coach should employ the latest methods or proper instruction using sound progression in presenting motor skills. If an injury occurs while using an improper instructional method, negligence may be present.
  • Warn Participants: The coach should inform all athletes and their parents of the inherent risks involved in participation in the particular sport, including the very small risk of infection with a blood-borne pathogen. The coach must describe, using a variety of methods, the catastrophic and common non-catastrophic injuries unique to the sport.
  • Supervise Participants: The daily plan should show how the coach plans to conduct general supervision of the sport and how he/she will supervise specific drills and other components of the daily practice. Adequacy of supervision should be reviewed in terms of quality and quantity. Factors to consider include, but are not limited to: the age of the students, the size of the students, the equipment involved, the maturity level of the students, the first aid equipment and training available, the appropriate certification of supervisors where required, and the safety training of the personnel involved.
  • Provide Safe Equipment and Facilities: Equipment should be properly fitted and maintained. Athletes should be instructed on how to conduct a daily inspection. Facilities should be free of hazards and inspected regularly.
  • Maintain Records of Injuries: A report should be completed for each accident. Injury reports should be maintained for a period of five years after the student's 21st birthday.
  • Evaluate Fitness of Participants: The coach has a duty to evaluate the physical fitness, medical condition, and skill level of athletes. Failure to evaluate and maintain records of those evaluations may be cause for negligence should an injury occur involving fatigue or lack of skill.
  • Provide Equal Protection and Due Process: While participation in co-curricular activities is a privilege, a participant who allegedly violates the conduct code must be afforded the opportunity of a fair hearing.
  • Transport Athletes Safely: A coach has a duty to see that athletes are safely transported to and from contests and to and from practices if practices are held at sites other than the immediate school grounds.
  • Group Participants: The coach has the duty to employ a recognized system of grouping for participants in a particular sport that will avoid unequal and unsafe participation based upon skill level, age, maturity, sex, size, and experience.
  • Foresee Danger: A coach should be able to reasonably anticipate foreseeable dangers that may occur if the activity is continued in a facility, with equipment, or in a situation, and take precautions protecting the children in his/her custody from such dangers.
  • Protect from Loss: A participant is required to present evidence that he/she is covered by an accident policy. A blanket catastrophic ("no fault") insurance provides coverage for serious injuries.
 
The duties listed above are not meant to be comprehensive. In carrying out the duties of the assignment, a staff member is expected to act as any reasonable professional would act under similar circumstances. A staff member who supervises a sports activity is expected to know the intricacies of the activity that he/she is leading.
 
Summer Sports Activities/Clinics
Rules governing out-of-school and/or out-of-season student sports participation are as follows:
A. A practice is defined as a teaching phase of a sport to any present, past, or future squad member while a student in grade 7-12 during the school year or during the summer. The school may not sponsor, promote, or direct activities which resemble out-of-season practices or contests during the school year.
A school staff member who sponsors, promotes, or directs such activities during the summer vacation will clearly indicate that he/she is operating independent of the school district. As such, the school district will be free of liability associated with the activity.
B. Students will be advised that participation in a commercial summer camp or clinic or other similar type of activity will not begin until the conclusion of the final WIAA state tournament of the school year. Participants in a fall school sports program may not attend any summer camp/clinic in that sport after August 1 until the first fall sports turnout. The school should announce by school bulletin that the summer sports camp/clinic is neither endorsed nor sponsored by the district.
C. A coach (contracted or volunteer) may not sponsor, promote, coach, or direct activities which resemble out-of-season practices or contests in the sport they coach to any of their squad members or future squad members (grades 7-12) until after the school year's final WIAA state tournament.
D. The use of the school bulletin board, public address system, or school newspaper for promotional purposes to announce sports clinics/camps will fall within the same guidelines as applied to other commercial endeavors.
E. School facilities to be used for summer activity and/or sports camps may be used consistent with the rates, rules, and regulations applicable.
 
A user will hold the district free and without harm from any loss or damage, liability, or expense that may arise during, or be caused in any way by, such use of school facilities. Authorization for use of school facilities will not be considered as an endorsement for approval of the activity, group, or organization, nor for the purposes it represents.
 
Athletic Code
Franklin Pierce Schools' Interscholastic Activities Program is governed by district policy and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) rules. The eligibility standards for participation in interscholastic activities established by WIAA rules place athletes and participants of other interscholastic activities in a position of representing their student body as student leaders. Participants are expected to remain abstinent from alcohol, tobacco products, smoking, and other drugs as part of their commitment to the Franklin Pierce Schools interscholastic activities program code for the duration of the school year.
 
A violation of Board Policy 2151, RCW 69.41.020-69.50.101, RCW 28A.600.010, or RCW 28A.600.40 will constitute violations of the WIAA, FPS eligibility code standards, and the RCW codes of Washington.
 
Definitions:
  1. Self-disclosure of violations is defined as a participant self-admitting their own violation of the rules set below. 
  2. Investigative discovery of violations is defined as the investigative process by which district personnel conclude a participant has violated the rules set below.
  3. Screening is defined as a successful student substance abuse screening, family conference, and successful follow through with the recommendations.
  4. School year is defined as the first day of tryouts in the fall through the last day of June. (If an activity conducts official school practices, meetings, and/or other activities during the summer months, these rules will be considered in force for those participants.)  Once signed, these rules are in force for all participants during the defined school year for the entire time the participant is eligible in Franklin Pierce Schools.
  5. Accumulation of violations: Violations are accumulated during the entire time a participant is involved in middle school activities. Once the participant becomes involved in a high school activity, a new high school accumulation begins.
  6. Career is defined as the entire time a student is eligible for activities at a particular level. Middle school and high school careers are separate.
  7. Days: For the purposes of the penalties, “days” will be defined as school days. For all other purposes, “days” will be defined as calendar days, with 24 hours per day.
  8. The Co-curricular Code Committee will consist of the head coach or advisor of the activity involved, a coach or advisor from another activity, the athletic coordinator, and the principal/designee.
  9. Participant is defined as any student who has a current physical on file who is planning to participate in a co-curricular activity or is currently participating in a co-curricular activity.
  10. Co-curricular Activity is defined as any athletic team, activity, student government group, drama or musical group, etc., which is school-sponsored and outside the curricular program.
  11. The Conduct Committee will consist of a head coach, the Athletic Director, and an Assistant Principal.
Training Rules:
  1. Tobacco and Vape Use:  Participants will not use or possess any type of tobacco product, either in or out of school, 24 hours per day during the defined school year.  A vape is considered use of tobacco as defined by school district policy and be subject to tobacco rules unless it can be shown it was used for a controlled substance. In that case, it will fall under number 3, Controlled Substances.
  2. Alcohol Use: Participants will not possess, use, or be under the influence of alcohol 24 hours a day during the defined school year. This includes on school grounds; at school-sponsored activities either on or off school grounds; on route to and from school; while the participant is attending, or should be in attendance, during the school day; and at any off campus, non-school activities, gatherings, etc.
  3.  Legend Drugs and Controlled Substances: Legend drugs are defined as those drugs that are legal only through prescription. Controlled substances and controlled substance analogs are defined in RCW 69.50.101. Students will face penalties for violation of RCW 69.41.020-69.41.050 (legend drugs including anabolic steroid use, possession, and/or sale) or violation of RCW 69.50 (uniform Controlled Substances Act). This includes, but is not limited to: illegal drugs, steroids, controlled substances of any kind (other than those obtained and properly used pursuant to a valid prescription) or those purported to be the same, including, but not limited to imitation controlled substances and/or related drug paraphernalia (as defined in RCW 69.41 and RCW 69.50) 24 hours a day during the defined school year. A violation of RCW 69.41.020-69.41.050 will be considered a violation of the eligibility code and standards and will subject the student to disciplinary actions consistent with those outlined and in the WIAA handbook. 
  4. Athletes should not be in attendance at gatherings where activities (as defined in #1, #2, and #3 above) are being conducted.
  5. Substance Trafficking: Participants will not traffic (buy, trade, distribute) or attempt to traffic any alcohol, drugs, steroids, controlled substances of any kind or those purported to be the same, including, but not limited to, imitation controlled substances and/or related drug paraphernalia (as defined in RCW 69.41 and RCW 69.50) 24 hours a day during the defined school year. This includes on school grounds; at school-sponsored activities either on or off school grounds; on route to and from school; while the participant is attending, or should be in attendance, during the school day; and at any off campus, non-school activities, gatherings, etc.
  6. Conduct: It is expected that athletes follow all federal, state, and local laws, plus maintain satisfactory school conduct according district policies and procedures.  Participants suspended from school will be suspended from co-curricular participation for at least the length of the school suspension, including full day in-school suspension. Social media violations will also fall under this category.
Penalties for Violations:
A violation of Board Policy 2151 or RCW 69.41.020-69.41.050 through possession, sale, and/or use of alcohol, tobacco, illegal and/or inappropriate use of other drugs, including anabolic steroids, will constitute violations of the WIAA and Franklin Pierce Schools eligibility code standards. 
 
In addition to any penalties which might be imposed pursuant to other Franklin Pierce Schools policies and procedures related to student conduct and discipline, penalties for violations of the above, for participants of co-curricular activities during the school year, will include the following:
 
Infraction
First Violation
Second Violation
Third Violation
 
Self-Disclosed
Investigative
Investigative
 
#1 above
Tobacco
15 days +        Tobacco School
30 days +           Tobacco School
30 days +         Tobacco School
45 days
#2 above
Alcohol
Season/45 days or 15-30 days with screening
90 days or      season
ineligible, whichever is longer
1 calendar year
Rest of Career
#3 Above
Illegal Drugs
WIAA Season    Ineligible
WIAA Season    Ineligible
1 calendar year
Rest of Career
#4 Above
Trafficking
School year or 60 days with screening.
Rest of Career
N/A
 
Due Process
Participants who are disciplined under these training rules have a right to request a hearing within three (3) school days of the imposition of the penalty. The request will be in writing and submitted to the district athletic director. Until the hearing takes place, the participant will not be permitted to continue to participate in turnouts and contests. Once the appeal is filed with the district athletic director, a decision will be made within 5 days of receiving the appeal. The athletic director’s decision is final. 
 
Attendance
Leaving school during the school day:
Students must sign out in the attendance office when leaving during the school day. Before students check out and leave school, they must:
  1. Give the attendance office a signed note from their parent/guardian indicating the reason they are checking out of school, or have their parent/guardian call in to the attendance office before they leave school, giving the reason why the student is checking out of school.
  2. If a student leaves school due to illness, the student MAY NOT practice that day or participate in a game or performance that day.
Students may miss class and still participate in a practice, game, or performance on the same day only if their absence is excused by a parent that confirms they were at a doctor, dental, or legal appointment, a funeral or personal emergency, or for a school field or activity trip.
 
Students will not be allowed to participate in practice, a game, or performance if they:
A. Are truant from class;
B. Leave class without their teacher's permission;
C. Sleep in and come to school late;
D. Go home because they are sick; or
E. Stay home because they are ill and come to school later because they are feeling better.
 
Date: 8/8/78
Revised: 3/26/91; 9/9/08; 9/12/17