The Bakersfield City School District prohibits discrimination, intimidation, harassment (including sexual harassment) or bullying based on a person’s actual or perceived ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, immigration status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. For questions or complaints, contact your school site principal and/or the District’s Chief Equity Compliance Officer, Section 504 Coordinator, and Title IX Coordinator: Erin Johnston, Director I, Human Resources, 1300 Baker Street, Bakersfield, CA 93305, (661) 631-4663, johnstone@bcsd.com. Copies of BCSD’s Uniform Complaint policy, Sexual Harassment policy, and Nondiscrimination policies are available here.

The purposes of the District After School Athletics Program are to:

1. Afford an opportunity for all students to participate in an interschool athletic program;
   2. Lend identity to the school and develop school pride including a positive school climate;
   3. Develop within participating students a sense of teamwork, sportsmanship, self-discipline, and responsibility; and
   4. Promote the physical, social, and emotional well-being and character development of participating students.

The District Junior High/Middle School After School Athletics Program Coordinator shall have the authority and responsibility to monitor the eligibility of all participants.

A student will be declared eligible to participate in the Bakersfield City Schools After School Athletic Program if the student meets the following requirements:

1. 1. The student received a minimum of a 2.0-grade point average on a 4.0 scale (or the equivalent of a 2.0 if a different evaluation system is used) in the previous grading period. 
   2. Maintenance of minimum progress toward meeting grade-level standards.

The Superintendent or designee may grant ineligible students a probationary period not to exceed one semester.  Students granted probationary eligibility must meet the required standards by the end of the probationary period in order to remain eligible for participation (Education Code Section 35160.5). A student with a previous grade report from an elementary school will be granted probationary eligibility for not more than one grade period. A student with a previous grade report from a school other than a District school will also be granted probationary eligibility for not more than one grading period. The determination of student eligibility for a student who transferred from a District junior high/middle school will be based on the previous trimester grade report from the student’s prior District school.

A student who is declared ineligible to participate in the District After School Athletics Program shall remain ineligible until the student obtains a grade report card that meets the eligibility requirements listed above in number one.

Any decision regarding the eligibility for extracurricular or cocurricular activities of any child in foster care, a homeless student, or a child of an active-duty military family shall be made by the Superintendent or designee in accordance with Education Code Sections 48850 and 49701.

A student must be in full or partial attendance at school on the day of a game to be declared eligible to play that day’s game. Suspended students shall be excluded from District After School Athletics Program during the period of suspension or expulsion.

Students added to the participant roster (see below) after the start of the season will be declared eligible to participate only after approval of the District Junior High/Middle School After School Athletics Program Coordinator.

The Superintendent or designee may revoke a student's eligibility for participation when the student's poor citizenship is serious enough to warrant the loss of this privilege. A student with one or more “U” grades in conduct in the previous grade report is deemed to be serious enough and will be declared eligible only by approval of the school principal.

The principal or designee will submit a participant roster to the District After School Athletics Program Coordinator no later than five school days prior to the first game day of the season. The roster will include the student’s name, the name of the school the student attended during the previous grading period and the student’s grade point average from the previous grading period. This roster is a confidential pupil record and shall be maintained consistent with state and federal law.

Parent(s)/guardian(s) shall be made aware that there is an element of risk associated with all athletic competitions and that the District cannot guarantee that students will not be injured, despite a commitment to every participant’s health and welfare. The student and parent/guardian shall, prior to the student's participation in the athletic activity, sign and return an acknowledgment that they have received and reviewed the sudden cardiac arrest information posted on the California Department of Education's website (Education Code Sections 33479.2 & 33479.3).

Student-athletes and their parent(s)/guardian(s) shall receive annually an information sheet on concussions and head injuries. The student and parent(s)/guardian(s) shall sign and return the information sheet before the student’s initiating practice or competition (Education Code Section 49475).

If a student-athlete is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in an athletic activity, he/she shall immediately be removed from the activity for the remainder of the day. The student shall not be permitted to return to the activity until he/she is evaluated by a licensed health care provider trained in the management of concussions and receives the health care provider’s written clearance to return to the activity. If the health care provider determines that the student-athlete sustained a concussion or a head injury, the athlete shall also complete graduated return-to-play protocol no less than seven days in duration under the supervision of a licensed health care provider (Education Code 49475).

Under state law, school districts are required to ensure that all members of school athletic teams have accidental injury insurance that covers medical and hospital expenses. This insurance requirement can be met by the school district offering insurance or other health benefits that cover medical and hospital expenses. Some pupils may qualify to enroll in no-cost or low-cost local, state, or federally sponsored health insurance programs. Information about these programs may be obtained by calling 1 (800) 300-1506 or the BCSD School Health Department at (661) 631-5895.

It is the District’s expectation that students adhere to all safety rules, regulations, and instructions, as well as rules and guidelines related to conduct and sportsmanship.