PRIEST RIVER — The season of spring sports has begun, and with the implementation of a program at Priest River Lamanna High School this year, some students who thought they wouldn’t be able to play were given a second chance.

PRLHS Principal Joe Kren told West Bonner County School District trustees during last month’s board meeting that after increasing the accountability requirements in regards to extracurricular activities last year, a parent came forward with concerns about student athletes who fail a class in the fall semester. A student who receives an F in the spring semester, for example, has the opportunity to make it up during summer school, and are then eligible to participate in extracurricular activities the following fall.

“Now, at the end of the first semester, those students who failed had no relief to become eligible the following semester,” Kren said. “ … What we did for our fall and winter athletes, to help them with the spring — so they are eligible to play in the spring — is we have developed credit recovery programs.”

Students who played fall or winter sports and received an F their first semester were called in, he said, and offered the chance to make up their bad grade. One credit recovery option is the PLATO curriculum, which is an online learning platform, but is required to be completed in the presence of a teacher, Kren said. Another option is Idaho Digital Learning, which is also done online but can be done “anytime, anywhere.” Kren said a PRLHS teacher is not required on this platform because there is an online teacher who works with the student.

In some situations, when there are no other options, he said, administrators will consider allowing a student to retake a course again in school.

The school made the decision internally to implement the credit recovery program this year, and while Kren said it is still in the testing process and will ultimately need some adjustments, it has also been successful.

“So far the student athletes who have been involved with that have been working hard and maintaining passing grades in their credit recovery classes,” Kren said.

“So it’s a win-win on both sides. It helps them get their credit back, helps them maintain a good solid grade, with the motivation of being eligible for athletics.”

According to policy outlined in the student handbook, students are eligible to participate in athletics if they passed all their classes during the previous semester, have a 2.0 GPA and are on track to graduate, among other requirements such as signing the athletic code and physical exams.

Kren said prior to the next school year he will present a formal proposal to the West Bonner County School Board to add credit recovery for spring athletes to school policy, at which time they will have made any necessary adjustments to the program.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.