Chapter 9 - Athletics & Extracurricular Activities

This Extracurricular and Athletic Activities Code of Conduct applies, where applicable, to all school-sponsored athletic and extracurricular activities that are not part of an academic class nor otherwise carry credit for a grade.

A student must meet all academic eligibility requirements and have the following fully executed documents on file in the school office before being allowed to participate in any athletic activity:

1. A current certificate of physical fitness issued by a licensed physician, an advanced practice nurse or physician assistant. The preferred certificate of physical fitness is the Illinois High School Association’s “Pre-Participation Physical Examination Form.”
2. A permission slip to participate in the specific athletic activity signed by the student's parent/guardian.
3. Proof the student is covered by medical insurance.
4. A signed agreement by the student and the student’s parent/guardian authorizing compliance with the District’s Extracurricular Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy; and
5. Signed documentation agreeing to comply with the District’s policies and procedures on student athletic concussions and head injuries.
6. If physical activity restrictions apply, a medical provider’s note describing the limitations (i.e. cast, crutches, brace, etc.)

Selection of members or participants in extracurricular and athletic activities is at the discretion of the designated teachers, sponsors, and coaches.

In order to be eligible to participate in extracurricular and athletic activities, a student must be passing all classes. Any student failing to meet academic requirements will be suspended from the sport or activity until the grade is improved.

Students must be in attendance for at least ½ day to participate in after-school activities, which includes athletics, dances, concerts, etc. Exceptions may be made by the designated teacher, sponsor, or coach for justifiable reasons, including: 1) a pre-arranged medical absence; 2) a death in the student's family; or 3) a religious ceremony or event. 

A student who has been suspended from school is also suspended from participation in all extracurricular and athletic activities for the duration of the suspension.

A student who is absent from school on a Friday before a Saturday event may be withheld from Saturday extracurricular or athletic activities at the sole discretion of the designated teacher, sponsor, or coach.

Staff needs to have a list of all students attending the event in order to take attendance prior to the bus leaving the D47 school for an event and prior to leaving the event to return to D47. All students are expected to ride on district transportation to and from out-of-town events unless other arrangements have been made by the student's parent/guardian and shared prior to the event with D47 staff. If the parent of a student wants to transport their child directly home from the event, they must be present at the event and sign their child out on the sheet next to their child’s name. If a student is to be driven home by a different parent attending the event, the student needs to have a note or email from their parent to provide to the staff member overseeing the event to attach to the attendance sheet. D47 staff will not release students to third-party transportation services (i.e. taxis, Lyft, Uber, etc.).

This Code of Conduct applies to all extracurricular and athletic activities and is enforced 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.  

This Code does not contain a complete list of inappropriate behaviors. Violations will be treated cumulatively, with disciplinary penalties increasing with subsequent violations. A student may be excluded from extracurricular or athletic activities while the school is conducting an investigation into the student’s conduct.

Students and their parents/guardians are encouraged to seek assistance from the Student Assistance Program for alcohol or other drug problems. Participation in an alcohol or drug counseling program will be taken into consideration in determining consequences for Code of Conduct violations.

The student shall not:

1. Violate the school rules and District policies on student discipline including policies and procedures on student behavior;
2. Ingest or otherwise use, possess, buy, sell, offer to sell, barter, or distribute a beverage containing alcohol (except for religious purposes);
3. Ingest or otherwise use, possess, buy, sell, offer to sell, barter, or distribute tobacco or nicotine in any form;
4. Ingest or otherwise use, possess, buy, sell, offer to sell, barter, or distribute any product composed purely of caffeine in a loose powdered form or any illegal substance (including mood-altering and performance enhancing drugs or chemicals) or paraphernalia;
5. Use, possess, buy, sell, offer to sell, barter, or distribute any object that is or could be considered a weapon or any item that is a look alike weapon. This prohibition does not prohibit legal use of weapons in cooking and in athletics, such as archery, martial arts practice, target shooting, hunting, and skeet;
6. Attend a party or other gathering and/or ride in a vehicle where alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are being consumed by minors;
7. Act in an unsportsmanlike manner;
8. Violate any criminal law, including but not limited to, assault, battery, arson, theft, gambling, eavesdropping, vandalism and reckless driving;
9. Haze or bully other students;
10. Violate the written rules for the extracurricular or athletic activity;
11. Behave in a manner that is detrimental to the good of the group or school;
12. Be insubordinate or disrespectful toward the activity’s sponsors or team’s coaching staff; or
13. Falsify any information contained on any permit or permission form required by the extracurricular or athletic activity.

Hazing is any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a team or group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate. Bullying includes cyber-bullying (bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication) and means any physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:

1. Placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s or students’ person or property;
2. Causing a detrimental effect on the student’s or students’ physical or mental health;
3. Interfering with the student’s or students’ academic performance; or
4. Interfering with the student’s or students’ ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

Examples of prohibited conduct include name-calling, using derogatory slurs, stalking, sexual violence, causing psychological harm, threatening or causing physical harm, threatened or actual destruction of property, or wearing or possessing items depicting or implying hatred or prejudice of one of the characteristics stated above. 

Students who are accused of violating the Code of Conduct are entitled to the following due process:

1. The student should be advised of the disciplinary infraction with which he or she is being charged.
2. The student shall be entitled to a hearing before an appropriate administrator.
3. The student will be able to respond to any charges leveled against him or her.
4. The student may provide any additional information he or she wishes for the administrator to consider.
5. The administrator, with the help of other staff members if needed, may interview material witnesses or others with evidence concerning the case.
6. If the administrator finds, after reviewing the evidence, that the violation occurred, he or she will impose consequences/corrective actions from the Code of Conduct. 
7. The appropriate administrator will make a written report of his or her decision and rationale. The student may appeal the decision to the superintendent or superintendent’s designee.

All students remain subject to all the District’s policies and the school’s student/parent handbook.

The District maintains an extracurricular and athletic drug and alcohol testing program in order to foster the health, safety, and welfare of its students. Participation in extracurricular and athletic activities is a privilege and participants need to be exemplars. The program promotes healthy and drug-free participation.

Each student and his or her parent/guardian must consent to random drug and alcohol testing in order to participate in any extracurricular or athletic activity. Failure to sign the District’s “Random Drug and Alcohol Testing Consent” form will result in non-participation.

If a test is positive, the student may not participate in extracurricular or athletic activities until after a follow-up test is requested by the building principal or designee and the results are reported. The building principal or designee will request a follow-up test after such an interval of time that the substance previously found would normally be eliminated from the body. If this follow-up test is negative, the student will be allowed to resume participation in extracurricular and athletic activities. If a positive result is obtained from the follow-up test, or any later test, the same previous procedure shall be followed.

No student shall be expelled or suspended from school as a result of any verified positive test conducted under this program other than when independent reasonable suspicion of drug and/or alcohol usage exists. This program does not affect the District policies, practices, or rights to search or test any student who at the time exhibits cause for reasonable suspicion of drug and/or alcohol use.

Students may modify their athletic or team uniform for the purpose of modesty in clothing or attire that is in accordance with the requirements of the student’s religion or the student’s cultural values or modesty preferences.

District 47 is a member of the Fox Valley Junior High Conference (FVC) and abides by the approved bylaws and constitution of the conference. Items not covered by the conference bylaws and constitution are covered by the Illinois Elementary School Association (I.E.S.A.) rules and regulations and then by the National Federation of State High School Associations (N.F.H.S.). Participation in a FVC requires a serious commitment in both time and effort on the part of the athlete. This commitment consists of more practice sessions and academic eligibility. The FVC teams include:

Girls

• Cross Country*
• Volleyball (13 members per team minimum)
• Cheerleading (eight [8] members per grade level)
• Pom-pom (13 members per squad minimum)
• Basketball (13 members per team minimum)
• Track and Field*

Boys

• Cross Country*
• Basketball
• Wrestling 
• Track and Field*

*These are no cut sports and include 6th grade involvement

Tryouts

Volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, and pom-pon will hold either two (2) or three (3) day tryouts at the coach’s discretion. A student must be available for tryouts to be eligible to make a conference team. Students who miss all of the tryout dates due to an excused absence will be allowed a one-day tryout upon returning to school. Note: Failure to have a completed medical exam is not considered an excused absence and will not afford a student additional tryout time.

Selection of Teams

All final team selections are the responsibility of the head coach. All tryouts are closed to the general public. If coaches are going to use a committee to help select the team members, the committee must be made up of adults only and due care must be taken by the head coach to insure that the committee members have no biases, relationships, or personal vested interest on which students are selected to the team. The head coach must be a member of this selection committee

Practice Times

Practice times will vary from school to school and from season to season. Generally, conference teams will practice every day of the week for 1.5 – 2 hours and between the times of 2:30 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. Occasionally, there may be practices on Saturdays or on a school holiday.

Conference Events

Bus transportation is provided to all conference sporting events for members of the teams. Return bus transportation to the school is provided for all events outside of Crystal Lake. Most conference events begin at 4:00 P.M. For volleyball and basketball, A and B games are played to provide opportunities for all eligible players to participate in regular season games.

Attendance

In order for an athlete to participate in a conference event, the athlete must be in attendance for at least half of the regular school day. Also, students must participate in P.E. class if they are going to practice or participate in a conference event.

Dual Participation

The FVC by-laws state that teams joining the IESA must follow IESA rules for dual participation purposes. Since District 47 schools have chosen not to join IESA for this school year, students may choose to dual participate, in all athletics, without penalty.

Steroid Information

Sports Are Great – Steroids Aren’t. Go to www.drugfree.org/drug-guide/steroids for information. This slideshow provides valuable information for both parents and athletes.

Eligibility

In order to participate in athletics it is important for a student/athlete to maintain an acceptable academic level. With this in mind, District 47 has established the following guidelines:

Basketball, Cheerleading, Pom-Pom, Volleyball

1. Once a student/athlete becomes a member of the team, the student/athlete must maintain a passing grade in all subject areas. Failure to do so will result in the student/athlete not being allowed to practice or play games until the grade is improved.

Cross Country, Track and Field, Wrestling

1. These are no-cut sports and all student/athletes will be allowed to participate.
2. Once a student/athlete becomes a member of the team, the student/athlete must maintain a passing grade in all subject areas. Failure to do so will result in the student/athlete not being allowed to practice or play games until the grade is improved.

City League (Volleyball, Basketball, Dance Club)

1. These are no-cut sports and all student/athletes will be allowed to participate.
2. Once a student/athlete becomes a member of the team, the student/athlete must maintain a passing grade in all subject areas. Failure to do so will result in the student/athlete not being allowed to practice or play games until the grade is improved.

Each middle school in District 47 will provide additional opportunities for those students who are not a member of a FVC team or desire to participate in numerous activities and lack the ability to commit the amount of practice time that a FVC team requires. The City League comprises teams from Beardsley Middle School, Lundahl Middle School, and Bernotas Middle School. The sports teams are a blend of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The teams are filled on a first-come first-serve basis and once all spots have been filled, no additional students will be able to participate. City League Teams include the following:

• Co-Ed
  • Volleyball
  • *Dance Club (*7th and 8th graders only)
• Girls
  • Basketball
• Boys
  • Basketball

All city league teams are for seventh and eighth graders only with the exception of sixth grade girls for Dance Club.

Practices – City League teams will typically practice 2-3 days a week somewhere between 2:30 and 6:00 P.M.

Games – Interschool games are played on Saturday mornings with a tournament held at the end of the three to four week season. Coaches will make every effort to equalize participation time during games.

Transportation – Parents provide the transportation for Saturday morning games.

Game Participation – In order for an athlete to participate in a Saturday game, he or she must have attended at least one practice that week.

Team Selection – A minimum of 12 members are needed to form a City League team. City League coaches will determine placement on the teams.

Band

Band is offered to all pupils on a voluntary basis beginning in 5th grade. Band lessons are scheduled one period per week during the regular school day at all grade levels and concerts/contests are scheduled for the bands throughout the school year. Participants are assessed a fee for participating in a band. To see the current fee schedule on the District website, please click here. In middle school, students are assigned to one of the various bands through testing and/or audition and students receive a grade for their participation every trimester. Additionally, full band practices are scheduled from 7:00 - 7:35 am with bus transportation provided for bus eligible students. At the elementary level, please check with the band instructor for the full band practice times.

Chorus

Chorus is offered to all pupils on a voluntary basis beginning in 6th grade. Grades are not issued for chorus at any grade level and concerts/contests are scheduled for the chorus throughout the school year. Participants are assessed a fee for participating in chorus. To see the current fee schedule on the District website, please click here. Chorus practices are scheduled after school. 

Each school has a designated location for students to access community information related to athletics, scouts, fine arts, and other worthwhile activities for students.

Attendance at school-sponsored dances is a privilege. Only students who attend the school may attend school-sponsored dances. All school rules, including the school's discipline code and dress code are in effect during school-sponsored dances.

Students who violate the school’s discipline code will be required to leave the dance immediately and the student’s parent/guardian will be contacted by administration. The school may also impose other discipline as outlined in the school’s discipline code.

Student athletes must comply with Illinois’ Youth Sports Concussion Safety Act and all protocols, policies and bylaws of the Illinois High School Association before being allowed to participate in any athletic activity, including practice or competition.

A student who was removed from practice or competition because of a suspected concussion shall be allowed to return only after all statutory prerequisites are completed, including without limitation, the District’s return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols.