NORTHFIELD CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION FILE CODE: 6145.1/6145.2
Northfield, New Jersey Monitored
X Mandated
Policy X Other Reasons
INTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES; INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES
The Northfield City Board of Education considers all competitive extracurricular activities‑‑academic, artistic and athletic‑‑an integral part of the total educational program. Competitive activities shall be under the same administration and control as the rest of the school program and closely articulated with it.
Competitive activities and artistic expression can provide students with valuable experiences and opportunities. In this district, the emphasis in any competition or artistic expression shall be on providing inclusion in such experiences and opportunities rather than on producing winning teams or providing entertainment. Practice for or performance in any competitive event shall not interfere with the regular educational program.
The Northfield City Board of Education shall approve all proposed interscholastic competitions, either via schedule or as a discrete event, whichever is appropriate. The board must approve membership in any leagues, associations and conferences, and any agreements with other schools for a series of games or events. Contests of any kind between and among the schools of the district shall be approved by the Superintendent.
The Northfield City Board of Education shall appoint coaches, advisors, physicians and other necessary supervisory personnel upon recommendation of the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall also ensure that training programs/regulations are developed for all extracurricular athletic activities and that all physical facilities involved in any competition in which district schools take part shall be adequate, safe and sanitary.
Public recognition shall be given to participants in academic or artistic competitions in the same measure as to athletic competitors. The district’s affirmative action resolution and plan for equity in school and classroom practices shall apply to determining eligibility for competition, approval of each competitive activity in which students officially represent the district, and district expenditure to provide facilities and coaches.
Parental Consent
No student may participate in a school‑sponsored physical or artistic activity outside the general education curriculum without a signed consent form from a parent/guardian naming the activity and acknowledging that the activity may be hazardous.
Academic Eligibility
Academic standards for eligibility shall be those established by policy 6145 Extracurricular Activities.
Attendance Standards
Attendance standards shall be those set in policy 5113 Attendance, Absences and Excuses. In particular, a student shall not participate in a performance, exhibition, practice or athletic event unless he/she has been present in school that day or has been absent for an excused reason other than for sickness.
Disciplinary Standards
Disciplinary standards are based on board policies 5114 Suspension and Expulsion and 5131 Conduct/Discipline. Students on disciplinary probation or serving a detention or suspension can not practice, perform or compete. The Superintendent and the building principal shall decide at the end of a probation, detention or suspension whether the student may return to practice and competition.
Special Education Students
To participate in interscholastic competition and/or intramural activities, special education students must meet the same requirements listed above and the physical eligibility requirements. Reasonable modifications must be provided to each qualified student seeking to participate in an extra-curricular activity. However, a modification may be denied if, based on an individualized assessment, the modification presents an objective health or safety risk to the student or to others, or where the modification would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the program. A fundamental alteration is a modification that provides an objective advantage or disadvantage or requires a change in the rules of competition.
Equality and Equity in Athletic Programs
The district athletic programs shall be operated equitably with regard to the male and female teams including:
- Relatively equal numbers of varsity and sub-varsity teams for male and female students;
- Equitable scheduling of night games, practice times, locations and number of games for male and female teams;
- Equitable treatment that includes staff salaries, purchase and maintenance of equipment and supplies;
- Comparable facilities for male and female teams.
Physical Eligibility
All students in grades six through eight participating in intramural or interscholastic athletics must be given a medical examination within 365 days prior to the first practice session, with a health history update if the examination was completed more than 60 days prior to the first practice session of the first sport participated in. The medical examination shall be given at the student’s medical home, as defined in file code 5141.3 Health Examinations and Immunizations. If a student does not have a medical home, the school physician shall conduct the medical examination. Examinations shall be made available throughout the school year consistent with the district athletic schedule. The examination shall be documented on the form approved by the commissioner of education and include, as a minimum, the components listed in the administrative code. In the event a private physician is used, the medical examination shall not be at the expense of the board of education.
The parents/guardians shall be sent written notification signed by the examining physician testifying to the student’s physical fitness to participate in athletics. The reason for the physician’s disapproval of the student’s participation shall be included in the notification. The health findings of the medical examination for participation in athletics shall be made part of the general health examination record.
The Superintendent shall present to the board for adoption procedures for administration of the required medical examination. The procedures for the medical examination to determine the fitness of a student to participate in athletics shall include a form for a medical history to be filled out and returned by a parent/ guardian and a form to be filled out by the examining physician.
The medical examination to determine the fitness of a student to participate in athletics shall include, as a minimum, the following:
A. A medical history questionnaire, completed by the parent/guardian of the student, to determine if the student:
- Has been medically advised not to participate in any sport, and the reason for such advice;
- Is under a physician’s care and the reasons for such care;
- Has experienced loss of consciousness after an injury;
- Has experienced a fracture or dislocation;
- Has undergone any surgery;
- Takes any medication on a regular basis, the names of such medication and the reasons for such medication;
- Has allergies including hives, asthma and reaction to bee stings;
- Has experienced frequent chest pains or palpitations;
- Has a recent history of fatigue and undue tiredness;
- Has a history of fainting with exercise;
- Has a history of family members dying suddenly.
B. A physical examination which shall include, as a minimum, no less than:
- Measurement of weight, height, and blood pressure;
- Examination of the skin to determine the presence of infection, scars of previous surgery or trauma, jaundice, and purpura;
- Examination of the eyes to determine visual acuity, use of eyeglasses or contact lenses, and examination of the sclera for the presence of jaundice;
- Examination of the ears to determine the presence of acute or chronic infection, perforation of the eardrum and gross hearing loss;
- Examination of the nose to assess the presence of deformity which may affect endurance;
- Assessment of the neck to determine range of motion and the presence of pain associated with such motion;
- Examination of chest contour;
- Auscultation and percussion of the lungs;
- Assessment of the heart with attention to the presence of murmurs, noting rhythm and rate;
- Assessment of the abdomen with attention to the possible presence of heptamegaly, splenomegaly, or abnormal masses;
- Assessment of the back to determine range of motion and abnormal curvature of the spine;
- Examination of extremities to determine abnormal mobility or immobility, deformity, instability, muscle weakness or atrophy, surgical scars and varicosities;
- Examination of the testes to determine the presence and descent of both testes, abnormal masses or configurations, or hernia;
- Assessment of physiological maturation;
- Neurological examination to assess balance and coordination and the presence of abnormal reflexes.
Insurance
The board may cover each participant in an extracurricular activity with insurance coverage in consultation with the current insurance carrier.
Parents/guardians shall be strongly encouraged to participate in the supplemental student accident insurance program offered by the board.
Pamphlet on Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Once each school year, the Superintendent or designee shall distribute to parents/guardians of students participating in school sports, the New Jersey Department of Education’s pamphlet on sudden cardiac death. The pamphlet includes a description of early warning signs and privately available screening options.
Fact Sheet on the Use and Misuse of Opioid Drugs
Once each school year, the Superintendent or designee shall distribute to parents/guardians of students participating in the interscholastic sports program the educational fact sheet developed by the Commissioner of Education in consultation with the Commissioner of Health that provides information concerning the use and misuse of opioid drugs in the event that a student-athlete is prescribed an opioid for a sports-related injury. The district shall obtain a signed acknowledgment of the receipt of the fact sheet by the student-athlete and his/her parent or guardian.
Good Sportsmanship
The board believes that instilling habits of good sportsmanship should be one of the primary goals of athletic endeavors and that all district employees should model good behaviors in this area.
It is especially important that the athletic director and coaches accept the responsibility for encouraging young athletes to handle themselves in a sportsmanlike way and be models of self-control and dignity for players and spectators. Coaches shall include discussions on courtesy and sportsmanlike behavior as part of pre-game activities. Student fans shall be reminded that their conduct reflects on the schools of this district and that poor sportsmanship will be disciplined.
Parents/guardians and other adult spectators shall also be encouraged to act as models for young people by demonstrating self-control and dignity at all athletic events.
Unsportsmanlike behavior as exhibited through verbal abuse, rude gestures, taunts, obscenities, thrown objects, etc., shall not be tolerated in students, staff or any persons in attendance at district athletic competitions. Discipline may include, but not be limited to, eviction from the competition and prevention from attending further competitions.
The Superintendent shall prepare regulations on good sportsmanship and ensure their dissemination to students, parents/guardians and the community.
Adopted: October 14, 2011
NJSBA Review/Update: December 2009; December 2010; August 2011; May 2017; February 2018,
April 2024
Readopted:
Key Words
Extracurricular Activities, Cocurricular Activities, Competition, Intramural Competition, Interscholastic Competition
Legal References: N.J.S.A. 5:17‑1 et seq. Athletic code of conduct permitted; “youth sports event” defined…
N.J.S.A. 18A:11‑3 Voluntary associations regulating conduct of student activities; membership; rules and regulations; appeals
N.J.S.A. 18A:26‑2.1 et al. Certification of director of athletics
N.J.S.A. 18A:36‑20 Discrimination; prohibition
N.J.S.A. 18A:40-41 Pamphlet on sudden cardiac death
N.J.S.A. 18A:40-41.10 Educational fact sheet relative to use, misuse of opioid drugs for sports-related injuries
N.J.S.A. 18A:40A-1 et seq. Substance abuse
See particularly:
N.J.S.A. 18A:40A‑9, ‑10, ‑11
N.J.S.A. 18A:42‑2 School orchestra not to compete with civilian musicians; exceptions
N.J.S.A. 18A:42-7 Participants in certain interscholastic extracurricular activities may earn varsity letter
N.J.S.A. 18A:43‑1 Accident insurance for students authorized
N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.4 Responsibilities of the district board of education
N.J.A.C. 6A:7‑1.7 Equality in school and classroom practices
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-5.15 Persons employed to coach for swimming or diving
programs
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-5.16 Athletics personnel
N.J.A.C. 6A:11-4.14 Sports programs
N.J.A.C. 6A:16-2.1 et seq. General Provisions for School Health Services
See particularly:
N.J.A.C. 6A:16-2.2
N.J.A.C. 6A:30-1.1et seq. Evaluation of the Performance of School Districts
N.J.A.C. 6A:32-9.1 et seq. Athletic Procedures
See particularly:
N.J.A.C. 6A:32-9.1(c), -9.1(d-e)
20 U.S.C.A. 1681 et seq. – Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
29 U.S.C.A. 794 et seq. – Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Krupp v. Bd. of Ed. of Union County Reg. H.S. Dist. #1, 278 N.J. Super. 31 (App. Div. 1994) cert. den. 140 N.J. 277 (1994)
NJSIAA Constitution, Bylaws, Rules and Regulations
The Comprehensive Equity Plan, New Jersey State Department of Education
Possible
Cross References: *1322 Contests for students
1500 Relations between area, county, state, regional and national associations and the district
*3250 Income from fees, fines, charges
*3453 School activity funds
3530 Insurance management
*3541.31 Privately owned vehicles
4143 Extra pay for extra work
*5125 Student records
*5126 Awards for achievement
*5131 Conduct/discipline
*5131.1 Harassment, intimidation and bullying
*5141.1 Accidents
*5141.3 Health examinations and immunizations
*5141.8 Sports related concussion and head injury
5143 Insurance
*5145.4 Equal educational opportunity
*6121 Nondiscrimination/affirmative action
*6142.4 Physical education and health
*6145 Extracurricular activities
6145.4 Public performances and exhibitions
*6146 Graduation requirements
*6147.1 Evaluation of individual student performance
*Indicates policy is included in the Critical Policy Reference Manual.