Tux of Borg Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 Link Skipped gym class costs student diploma BOW, N.H. -- A decision to take Advanced Placement biology instead of gym will cost a Bow High School senior her diploma, but it won't keep her from going to college in the fall. Though Isabel Gottlieb is a good student, a trumpet player in the school band and holds varsity letters in three sports, she discovered last fall she was one gym class shy of having enough credits to graduate next month. She asked for a waiver, but the school wouldn't budge, telling her instead she had to drop a class to take gym. "Why would I drop an AP biology class to take P.E.?" the 18-year-old said. "It's just not on my priority list." The missing credit wasn't caught by the school last spring when Gottlieb's schedule was set. The class in question is called BEST, or Building Essential Skills for Tomorrow, and is required for all Bow students to graduate. At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept. "Waivers vary from school to school and they're not standardized at all," said Principal George Edwards. Gottlieb added the class last year after the school told her she had to take it, but then dropped it when she found out it was too much on top of classes she was already taking, including two Advanced Placement classes and calculus. Both Gottlieb and her mother said the school suggested dropping either band, chorus, AP biology or calculus. But she and her mother decided sacrificing any of those would have diminished the quality of Gottlieb's education. "I'm trying to get into college and someone isn't going to want to see someone drop an AP biology class a month into the year in order to pick up P.E.," Gottlieb said. There will likely be no compromises in time for graduation. The class is not offered in the summer. And it may not matter. Gottlieb already has been accepted to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where she plans to major in biology. Trinity is aware of Gottlieb's situation and said that as long as she gets her General Educational Development, or GED, in time, there won't be a problem. Gottlieb said that she already has taken the practice test and, once she hears back on that, will schedule a time to take the official version of the high school equivalency test. Meanwhile, her mother, Ashley Warner, is planning a "non-graduation" party for her daughter. "We realized that not graduating wasn't the end of the world," Warner said. "But it took a long time to come to that conclusion."
Kelly the Dog Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 My sister's senior year she was an exchange student to Brazil. She learned an entire new language, Portugese, in a couple months and had an extraordinary experience there. When she got back the Kenmore schools wouldn't give her a high school diploma because she didn't take English 12. Learned an entire new language but didn't take English 12. The Kenton school system wouldn't budge and she never graduated. Strings were pulled and she was accepted at UB, later went to Harvard grad school and has a PhD in education. But never graduated high school.
mcjeff215 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 At Hamburg HS, I was taking two full periods of Gym every day, because I had slacked off in it 9 - 11, where it's an every-other-day thing. Four years of Gym class packed into one year. NYS requires it. I passed it all, too. I'll tell you though, I've never been in better shape! -Jeff
kasper13 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 Obviously, her priorities were not in order. Gym is the easiest "A" in high school. What in the name of all that is sacred is going on here? She thinks she's so darn smart she doesn't have to take gym? AP Biology is for losers. Gym class ruled. She probably weighs 650lb. and gets made fun of in gym class. I hope they throw dodgeballs at her biology lovin face.
UConn James Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 Gottlieb added the class last year after the school told her she had to take it, but then dropped it when she found out it was too much on top of classes she was already taking, including two Advanced Placement classes and calculus. Both Gottlieb and her mother said the school suggested dropping either band, chorus, AP biology or calculus. But she and her mother decided sacrificing any of those would have diminished the quality of Gottlieb's education. So, she made the decision that she needed to take two (apparently) elective music classes and not take the gym class that was required to graduate. She's dealing with the consequences of that decision. <shrug> Good luck at Trinity, Isabel.
bartshan-83 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 I kinda side with the school too. They could have been more flexible, but they did give her options and she refused. How is it any different than if her Bio class was required and she elected to take 2 gym classes instead? Just because its gym does not mean it is not a requirement. I do agree that she should be going to her college though. To revoke an admittance on the basis of skippin gym would be silly.
Alaska Darin Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 I kinda side with the school too. They could have been more flexible, but they did give her options and she refused. How is it any different than if her Bio class was required and she elected to take 2 gym classes instead? Just because its gym does not mean it is not a requirement. I do agree that she should be going to her college though. To revoke an admittance on the basis of skippin gym would be silly. 334255[/snapback] "At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept." She lettered in 3 sports. I guess missing the "Square Dancing" block should be considered. Just another misplaced power trip by some bureaucrat. Way to hold the line.
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 "At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept." She lettered in 3 sports. I guess missing the "Square Dancing" block should be considered. Just another misplaced power trip by some bureaucrat. Way to hold the line. 334261[/snapback] This certainly is silly on the HS's part. Isabel seems to be taking the right attitude regarding this which is to stay focused on her own goals and go for that. Graduating for the HS important, but what she really is about is her education and getting into the college of her choice and she seems to have done that. Just wait unfortunately, if she thinks the HS is silly just wait til she hits the private sector where unfortunately people are involved in decision-making there also and workers can fall victim to the lamest of decisions by bosses. 50% of businesses go out of business within 5 years and a lot of these are because their are el lamos running the business. If she finds folks who have the same goals she will be fine.
Corp000085 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 anyone have a link with a pic? She absolutely should not graduate on time. She knew of the requirements, was given an option to fufill them, and would not budge. However, since the school messed up her schedule, they should offer some sort of make up gym class over the summer so she can get her normal degree. Since she's going to college anyways, hopefully she'll graduate. If she doesn't though, the difference between a GED and a full high school diploma could possibly be the difference between minimum wage and a higher wage.
Smoker2Buffalo Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 It's required, she probably knew it was required. Why should she be exempt? Is she special?
bartshan-83 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 "At the Seattle high school Gottlieb attended before moving to Bow before her junior year, gym requirements often were waived for students in varsity sports. But those waivers aren't something Bow High School is willing to accept." She lettered in 3 sports. I guess missing the "Square Dancing" block should be considered. Just another misplaced power trip by some bureaucrat. Way to hold the line. 334261[/snapback] Darin, I don't doubt at all that the HS is being unnecessarily inflexible here, but I guess I just take it as a case of personal accountability. I think the school should have waived it because of her athletic resume, but in principle I do not agree with the notion that some requirements are somehow unworthy of consideration. It's not like the school told her one month before graduation that she was fvcked. They laid out for her exactly what she had to do in order to graduate *and* they gave her options. She didn't have to drop her AP Bio, she could have dropped chorus. Is singing anymore frivolous than gym? I guess in this case I agree with you, but in general I am against people trying to worm their way out of what is required of everyone else. And I do not agree with the principle that some requirements are essential, but some aren't worth sh*t. Bottom line, she could have avoided this whole mess with minimal effort on her part. Which is why I feel little sympathy for her when she wants to complain after the fact.
N.Y. Orangeman Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 As I look back on my life, I can't imagine I would be without physical education. Afterall, where would I have learned the jumping-jack and how to jump rope. Plus, all of those insightful lessons on the need to exercise daily and eat well have had a profound impact on my daily routine. I mean, when will you use AP Biology anyway?
30dive Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 It seems pretty funny that we want to call them kids when its convienent for us and when it convienent for us, we expect them to be adults. It makes me crazy this "child" made a bad choice for her class schedule, but where was her counsler? How does this "choice" by the school help anyone. If we want our kids to be kids then we real adults better start helping those kids make those adult choices.
ch19079 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 i saw that yesterday. she knew that by dropping the class she would not be able to graduate. she did what she thaught was best. she knew the consiquences, and now she must accept them. and it sounds like she did and is. good for her. there is no need for any "uproar". but how does dropping gym help you in molecular biology?? in my highschool you take class after class with a 15 min. break in between. so did she study during that hour?
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 I'm not sure what the big problem is here (it is a problem but I think almost all parties see it as a little problem). She violated the rule that all knew about at least well enough in advance to take specific actions with clear possible outcomes. She is being held accountable for not following the rule in that she will not get a diploma from the HS. She accepts being held accountable in this way because it does not interfere with he larger goals of getting the education she wants and going to the college of her choice. She hopes/plans to meet the requirements later to get the important HS diploma but had other priorites for now. One can invest in the picayune argument if you want about the importance of gym, the unwillingness of her school to grant a waiver other schools grant, oe her choice (and her parents) of the relative importance of music classes, calculus, gym, etc but all these points are quite different from her once having made her choice (she did), an outcome being decided for her based on that choice, the outcome not stopping her from achieving her two prime goals (getting into the college of her choice and getting the education she wanted) and all parties moving on based on those choices. Sounds quite livable to me.
ch19079 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 I'm not sure what the big problem is here (it is a problem but I think almost all parties see it as a little problem). She violated the rule that all knew about at least well enough in advance to take specific actions with clear possible outcomes. She is being held accountable for not following the rule in that she will not get a diploma from the HS. She accepts being held accountable in this way because it does not interfere with he larger goals of getting the education she wants and going to the college of her choice. She hopes/plans to meet the requirements later to get the important HS diploma but had other priorites for now. One can invest in the picayune argument if you want about the importance of gym, the unwillingness of her school to grant a waiver other schools grant, oe her choice (and her parents) of the relative importance of music classes, calculus, gym, etc but all these points are quite different from her once having made her choice (she did), an outcome being decided for her based on that choice, the outcome not stopping her from achieving her two prime goals (getting into the college of her choice and getting the education she wanted) and all parties moving on based on those choices. Sounds quite livable to me. 334397[/snapback] well said. i dont see why people find this a big deal. she wasnt surprised that she couldnt graduate. she knew that the day she droped the class. it wasnt till somone wrote: cant graduate cus of gym class, that people said something. and she just chose gym cus it is apparently the least important class she was taking. if she had dropped a math class, would people be just as upset?
mcjeff215 Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 As I look back on my life, I can't imagine I would be without physical education. Afterall, where would I have learned the jumping-jack and how to jump rope. Plus, all of those insightful lessons on the need to exercise daily and eat well have had a profound impact on my daily routine. I mean, when will you use AP Biology anyway? 334342[/snapback] When? Not very often.. if she's a Bio-head and wants to get into the medical field, most med schools don't take AP Bio as part of the required "two full semesters of general biology." Sure, it's college credit, but you'll be taking it over anyways. This of course was *my* plan in life until I realized I could easily become an Internet Millionaire at 18. And That, of course, was a big... big mistake! We'll save that for another post, though! -Jeff
Sound_n_Fury Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 Public schools rule. 334156[/snapback] The schools have their priorities straight here in Buffalo, too ! http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050512/1070292.asp James A. Williams on Wednesday night was named Buffalo school superintendent under a three-year contract that includes a salary of $205,000 the first year and also includes: $15,000 yearly annuity payments; 26 vacation days in addition to school holidays; 40 days of sick leave the first year and an additional 14 days in each of the following years; five days of personal leave; medical and life insurance; Reimbursement for up to $5,000 in professional membership fees as well as "reasonable expenses" for conferences and meetings; Salary will be reconsidered by the board each year, and can increase but not be cut. Williams may take part in "consultive work, speaking engagements, writing, lecturing or other professional duties and obligations" - with or without pay - with prior board approval. In other action, the board also voted 8-1 to save $27 million over the next two years - and seek to minimize staffing cuts - by naming Blue Cross Blue Shield as its single health insurance carrier. The Buffalo Teachers Federation and the union representing principals both said that move violates their contracts and state law, and that they will challenge it in court.
UConn James Posted May 12, 2005 Posted May 12, 2005 The schools have their priorities straight here in Buffalo, too !... 26 vacation days in addition to school holidays; 40 days of sick leave the first year and an additional 14 days in each of the following years; five days of personal leave; 334465[/snapback] In his eighth year on the job, assuming a 180-day school year, hypothetically, he won't have to spend a single day at work. Nice!
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