THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9609010070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 137 lines
As a freshman and sophomore at Tallwood High in Virginia Beach, TaRon Anderson worked his magic on the gridiron, leaving opponents in the dust as one of the region's star high school running backs.
Now, about to enter his junior year at Portsmouth's I.C. Norcom High, Anderson is in the spotlight again. But this time it may be a little hotter than he's used to.
His case was the one that led the School Board on Thursday to add a ``waiver'' policy to the system's new 2.0 minimum grade point average requirement for participation in extracurricular activities. The waiver is only for students new to the district.
Portsmouth and Suffolk are now the only South Hampton Roads districts with the 2.0 - or C - grade point average rule.
Suffolk's rule took effect in 1994. Portsmouth's kicks in this school year, which starts Tuesday.
Portsmouth's waiver policy, which Superintendent Richard D. Trumble does not support, is far from settled, however.
The final draft has yet to be ironed out. And Portsmouth School Board Chairman Byron P. Kloeppel acknowledged Friday that making the provision available to only a certain group of students could be problematic.
``I think it's still half-done,'' said Kloeppel, a lawyer.
But the board's action Thursday does allow Anderson to play for Norcom's varsity Greyhounds this fall - although his grade point average was in the D range during his last semester at Tallwood.
``I feel better,'' Anderson said Friday.
``At first, I was nervous because I thought I was going to miss a year out of football, and I was trying to break the record,'' he said, referring to the South Hampton Roads career-rushing record set last year by Princess Anne's Mike Majette.
``I just want to leave a mark on my name.''
Majette ran for 4,500 yards in his four-year career. Anderson rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two high school seasons.
He says improving his grades won't be hard because he knows he must if he wants to play in Portsmouth.
His grades at Tallwood had been in the C range at one point last semester, he said. But his mother's illness and subsequent death last October made it hard to focus on schoolwork, he said.
Even so, Superintendent Trumble was against the waiver idea and has criticized such provisions as destroying the ``integrity'' of a 2.0 rule.
Adding probationary periods also sends the wrong message, he said.
``It tells students that we really didn't mean it,'' he said.
Others have criticized the timing of the waiver policy.
``My feeling is that it was an underhanded, backhanded way to make sure the Norcom football team gets what it wants,'' said Churchland High Varsity Football Coach Ken Taylor.
If the policy had to be implemented, he said, it should have taken effect at the beginning of second semester so all three of the city's public high schools would have started on a level playing field.
Taylor said he recently turned away some prospective players because they didn't meet the requirement.
Reaction was mixed among parents and students this week.
Laverne Townes, a parent of three Norcom students, said all city students should have the option of participating in extracurricular activities under a probationary status if they don't have a 2.0.
Tiffani Williams, a 17-year-old Woodrow Wilson High senior, said she liked the waiver policy as approved Thursday.
``Students who have been in Portsmouth have known this was coming,'' she said.
``A 2.0 really is not that hard to get. But you can't hold it against people coming from somewhere else that didn't have the same rule.''
The School Board voted in 1993 for the 2.0 requirement to take effect this coming school year; a student's grade point average from the previous semester is the one that's targeted.
Board members said they added the waiver policy this week because they wanted to be fair to Anderson and others who will find themselves in a situation like his.
``For reasons beyond his control, he had to leave where he was,'' Kloeppel said. ``We all felt we should give him nine weeks to do right. If he doesn't, he's gone'' from the team.
Norcom Varsity Football Coach Joe Langston, who attended Thursday's board meeting with several members of his team, later said the goal was only to keep ``the glue'' in Anderson's life.
Anderson, 17, now lives in Portsmouth with his sister, Pina Jackson, and her husband, Robert, a Norcom assistant football coach. Pina Jackson said she's now Anderson's legal guardian.
She said she and her husband asked the administration for some sort of probationary status for him because they felt playing football would keep him motivated during a tough time.
They also pointed out that he was eligible in Virginia Beach.
Trumble gave board members copies of the couple's letter explaining the situation.
According to the waiver policy, students new to the district who want to participate in extracurricular activities and had been eligible in their previous districts - although they didn't have a 2.0 - will have nine weeks to bring their semester average up to a 2.0 or better.
During that nine-week grading period, they can participate in activities ranging from band to wrestling.
The fun's over if they fail to meet the requirement.
Portsmouth's waiver policy is similar to one in the Alexandria school system, which also has a 2.0 rule.
Other area system follow the Virginia High School League's standard, which says students must have passed five courses in the previous semester and be enrolled in five courses in the current semester to participate in competitive activities, said league spokesman Bob Button.
Students with six classes can fail one and still compete under league requirements.
The league's standard doesn't call for a specific grade point average.
Suffolk's board added a different type of probationary period to its 2.0 rule in August 1994, before the rule was to take effect in the 1994-95 year.
One of the main differences in Suffolk is that ``probationary status'' is not limited to students new to the district.
Portsmouth board members say the last thing they want is for residents to think they don't value academics.
``The board very much cares about academics,'' said board member Elizabeth Daniels. ``But we're also humane.''
She also explained that the district already grants waivers for other requirements. Students who transfer into Portsmouth as seniors, for example, may have enough credit hours to graduate on time in their previous districts, but too few according to Portsmouth's requirements.
Portsmouth typically waives its minimum credit-hour requirement for graduation in those instances, allowing such students to graduate on time if they would have done so at their previous school. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
At his former school, TaRon Anderson met playing rules.
THE POLICY
According to the waiver policy, students new to the system who
want to participate in extra-curricular activities and had been
eligible in their previous districts - although they didn't have a
2.0 - will get nine weeks to bring their semester average up to a
2.0 or better.
During that nine-week grading period, they can participate in
activities ranging from band to wrestling.
The fun's over if they fail to meet the requirement.
KEYWORDS: ACADEMIC GRADES PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD by CNB