As Clayton High School continues to address the issue of budget cuts, one of our school’s most unique policies will come under question: our athletic no-cut policy.

The no-cut policy ensures that if a CHS student wants to play a sport, meets MSHSAA requirements, has earned three credits the previous semester, and is enrolled in classes that total three credits, they can participate.

There are no try-outs required to be on a team. However, this can lead to as many as 60 teams in 17 different sports to buy equipment, practice space and uniforms for. As our school board has to decide what goes as the budget decreases, our abundant choices for athletics, may become less abundant.

The question we must ask ourselves is, what makes the no-cut policy so important to CHS as a community?

On that note, let’s take a look at the Clayton School District’s core values.

“We model and promote excellence by challenging our students and ourselves to meet the highest expectations of our community.”

The Clayton community expects the school district to do well in academics, which may suggest that sports are of lesser importance.  However, a study done in the UK in 2008 found that in two years, students participating in a sports program decreased overall referrals by 36 percent. This shows that students involved in sports tend to do better in school.

“We model and promote trust by building relationships based on integrity, mutual respect and open communication.”

Practicing with teammates for two hours a day creates a certain amount of bonding. Having to rely on others for a team’s common goal builds trust, by teaching athletes to respect each other and communicate with students they might otherwise not encounter. Such an interconnected community is part of what separates Clayton from other schools, because students here have friends of all ages, due to the sports they are able to participate in.

“We model and promote inclusiveness by valuing individual differences and the contributions of a diverse student body and staff.”

How can we call ourselves inclusive if we exclude athletes based on ability? In order to meet this expectation, sports should be open to anyone who wants to join, regardless of their previous experience. If inclusion is truly a core value of our district, it ought to extend to the athletic program.

“We model and promote accountability by aligning our actions and resources with our stated objectives and taking responsibility for the outcomes.”

Our resources, or the money in our new budget, and our actions are in our hands. How can we act so that we can meet our core values? Excellence, trust and inclusiveness would not be honored if we limit student access to athletic teams.

Our district is accountable for excellence, trust and inclusiveness, and if we say that we “promote and model” these, let’s use our actions to show that we really do stand for what we say we do. For the sake of our core values, the no-cut policy is important to us as students, as athletes and as a CHS community.