7410.1 - Student Organizations, Cocurricular and Extra Curricular Activities

Policy: Student Organizations, Cocurricular and Extra Curricular Activities	Policy Number: 7410.1
Date of Original Policy: 07/10/2002	Date Revision Adopted: 11/03/2021
Reviewed by Policy Committee: 10/17/2021	Date of Next Review: 12/09/2024
Replacement of Policy Number:

The Board of Education recognizes the educational values inherent in student participation in the extracurricular life of the school, and supports the concept of the formation of student groups for such purposes as building sound social relationships, developing interests in an academic area, and gaining an understanding of the elements and responsibilities of good citizenship.

The Superintendent of Schools, with the aid of students, faculty and administration, is charged with developing procedures for registering and regulating student groups or clubs.  Such procedures shall ensure that the District will register any group organized for a purpose not prohibited by Board policy or by law, if such group submits a list of its members designated as contacts, a copy of its constitution and/or bylaws, and the constitution and bylaws of any off-campus organization with which it may be affiliated.  Group membership shall be in compliance with the Code of Conduct in regard to discrimination.

The Board may prohibit the formation of any clubs, including fraternities or sororities, or any other secret society, whose deliberations and activities have caused or created, or are likely to cause or create, a disruption of or interference with the school program.

Administrative regulations governing the use of school facilities shall abide by the Equal Access Act in the creation of a "limited open forum."  All noncurricula-related student activities, regardless of religious or political con¬tent, shall have the same opportunities as any other such activity to operate on school grounds.

The Board of Education has the authority to establish reasonable standards as prerequisites for eligibility for co curricular and extracurricular activities. These standards apply to entry qualifications as well as to continued participation in such activities. Advisors/Coaches must disseminate a copy of the Athletic and Extracurricular Policy Handbook to all students and parents at the start of each school year, and participating students should be individually informed of the application and scope of such standards.

Eligibility and continued participation in co curricular and extracurricular activities are a privilege extended to students, as opposed to a right, and the behavioral standards sets forth in the District Code of Conduct apply to all students participating in any co curricular and/or extracurricular activity.  All student participants, including athletes, will be informed that they have the obligation to act in a responsible manner because of the leadership roles they play in the school environment and as a result are expected to adhere to a ban on the consumption/use of alcoholic beverages, drugs (other than those appropriately prescribed), and/or tobacco products on or off campus.

Advisors/Coaches must specify minimum school attendance requirements, and the minimum grade point average (GPA) they expect student participants to maintain.  All such standards must be reasonable. The relationship between a student's GPA and his/her eligibility must be clearly explained to all student participants.

"Training rules" are generally accepted as a condition of participation in student athletics, and may include attendance at practices, individual training programs, etc.  Similar rules of rehearsal attendance and practice may apply to other extracurricular or co curricular activities such as orchestra, band and theater.  

Advisors/Coaches will provide these expectations in writing at the beginning of the school year or season, as appropriate.

Although suspension from participation in an extracurricular activity does not require a full hearing pursuant to Section 3214 of the Education Law, a student must be given the opportunity to appear informally before the disciplinarian and/or disciplinary committee, and present his/her side of the story as part of a general discussion of the conduct under review.


Education Law §§1709(3); 2801
Bush v. Dassel-Cokato Board of Ed., 745 F. Supp. 562 (D. Minn. 1990)
Matter of O'Conner v. Bd. of Ed., 65 Misc.2d 40 (1970)
Matter of Wilson, 28 EDR 254 (1988)
Matter of Keily, 24 EDR 138 (1984)
Matter of Miller, 23 EDR 23 (1983)
Matter of Moore, 22 EDR 180 (1982)
Matter of Clark, 21 EDR 542 (1982)
Matter of Vetter, 20 EDR 547 (1981)

Education Law §§207; 1709-a; 2503-a; 2554-a
Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. §§4071-4074
8 NYCRR Part 172
Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
Garnett By Smith v. Renton School Dist. No. 403, 865 F.2d 1121 (9th Cir., 1989)
Thompson v. Waynesboro Area School Dist., 673 F.Sup¬p. 1379 (M.D. Pa. 1987)
Student Coalition v. Lower Merion School Dist. Bd., 633 F.Supp. 1040
(E.D. Pa. 1986)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733  (1969)
Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 92 S.Ct. 2338 (1972)