By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer
The Whiteville City Schools Board of Education will consider reinstating the minimum 2.0 grade point average (GPA) requirement for participation in all extracurricular activities at Whiteville High School.
The requirement, originally implemented by former superintendent Jerry Paschal, was overturned in late 2004. That requirement applied only to athletes.
The removal of the requirement pushed the school down to the level of the minimum High School Athletic Association’s academic requirement – that athletes pass a majority of their classes each semester.
Because a student could pass three courses with a “D” and flunk the fourth, the new minimum GPA became 0.75.
Few school systems – and no others in the same athletic conferences as Whiteville – ever raised the minimum.
Superintendent Randall Shaver said that in his discussions, a significant portion of the community would like to see the minimum GPA requirement restored. (See full story by clicking on title.)