MINIMUM-GRADES PLAN LACKS SUPPORT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160348
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                                LENGTH: Short
MINIMUM-GRADES PLAN LACKS SUPPORT
Schools Superintendent Richard Trumble is finding some opposition to his plan to require 1.3 grade-point averages of all high school athletes and club members.
Three board members say it would unfairly penalize poor students if Trumble requires the D-plus average for extracurricular activities starting this fall. The three said the proposal could lead to an increase in the dropout rate.
Had the policy been in effect this year, 16 students would have been cut from football and boys' and girls' basketball teams at the city's four high schools.
"I have serious concerns about punishing students in order to force them to learn," School Board member Charles H. Bowens II said. "We don't want to tell people that if you don't shape up, we'll ship you out. If we do that, we'll be shipping too many out."
Other board members said they were unsure whether to support the plan.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB