Kennedy High School PE Requirements

Previously, at Kennedy High School, students were able to waive gym class if they were in a sport or were able to replace gym with an academic class using an academic waiver. This way was very good for students who are in sports and after school activities because that meant they didn't have to take a 0 or 7th hour gym class. Also, it meant students who were very academically interested, didn't have to waste time out of their day to go to the gym where, previous to last year, we didn't do anything but walk around on our cellphones. Starting last year, though, our district made sure that the gym requirement changed and many students, including me, are furious about it. In gym class, now, we are required to dress out and use heart monitors to reach the state's requirements. With the new requirement, students must take at least one semester of gym and any opportunity to use a waiver have ceased to exist. So now people who have a full schedule of academic classes and a sport/activity after school must either take the option to drop one of their more important class, quit their sport to make time, or take online gym. I think this is very wrong because colleges, which we are so pushed to go to by our superiors, don't look at whether you were wasting your time in a gym class in high school or not, they are only focusing on your core classes and GPA. Another thing that upsets me about this requirement is that the students who are in multiple sports throughout the school, and are obviously fit, still have to take a pointless gym class. Also, I am upset with the option of "online" gym. I used quotation marks because when I signed up for this due to a full schedule and thought that it would get me the requirement I needed without having to drop an academic class or use up time before or after school, and I was horribly wrong. One the first day of class our teacher explained that we would still need to come in before/after school or during SMART lunch tutorials. I believe that the impact of this gym requirement will be heightened stress in students, and lower grades and GPA due to having to spend so much of our attention on a class that won't even impact our future. I understand the need for health regulation in school due to the increasing obesity in children, but I don't think taking students out of more academically challenging classes to sit in a gym for 52 minutes is not the solution.