Lydia Welty, a freshman who swims for the CSP Tideriders, wakes up at 4:30am so she can hit the pool by 5, and that’s not all for the day. She’ll be back to the laps after school as well.  For athletes like Welty, scraping up even forty five more minutes of sleep is crucial to their performance in school and in sports.

Welty enjoys swimming because of the discipline it requires but, “It also takes four hours out of the day that I could be using to do homework,” Welty said. “If I could use my gym period … to do a study hall … it would save me like 45 minutes of time … I could go to bed 45 minutes earlier which would really help me in the long run.”

Should athletes like Welty be allowed to have an after school sport count as a gym credit? Dr. Dan Gutchewsky, the Interim Principal at CHS, says that allowing this to happen would result in a negative effect on the physical education department.

“It would affect the staffing needs of the PE department and it could potentially impact the number of PE courses offered during the day.   Depending on the scenario it might require that coaches be certified in physical education which could impact our hiring practiced for coaches,” Gutchewsky said. “Currently a physical education exemption is not an option because DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) does not allow public high schools to award credit for interscholastic practice or competitions.”

Around 500 students participated in at least one sport at CHS last year, but CHS requires at least one credit of gym, complying with the Missouri graduation requirements.

“I think a student will learn things in a Physical Education class that they do not learn in a specialized team sport practice,” Bob Bone, the Athletic Director at CHS, said. “I believe the physical, mental and social benefits of physical activity is well documented [in a physical education class]. In addition, learning to live a healthy lifestyle can have benefits beyond Clayton High School.”

For an athlete like Welty, being awarded extra time for homework could be beneficial, however, authorizing this policy would hinder the jobs of physical education teachers, and possibly interfere with important learning for students.