Rep. Rickey Hardy wants the state’s top school board to require that public school students in grades sixth through 12th maintain a 2.0 grade point average to play sports and participate in extracurricular activities. Students already must make a 1.5 GPA to play football or volleyball, but there are no requirements to join Key Club or run for student council.
Hardy’s House Bill 47 is a carbon copy of similar legislation he pushed — and the House Education Committee shot down — during the 2008 regular session. But with Baton Rouge making the final term on its own GPA upgrade, Hardy, a Democrat, may have a new argument to make to force the new rules on BESE.
Also, and even though it’s not scientific, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association polled the question through its Web site in November. More than 26,000 Internet votes were cast with 58 percent of participants in favor of raising the state’s GPA requirements.