How many Beaufort County athletes were forced to the sidelines for bad grades?

Beaufort County high school and middle school athletes maintained eligibility at their highest rates since a 2.0 grade-point minimum was instituted four years ago, with fewer than five dozen athletes forced to the sideline this spring for academic purposes.

Statistics unveiled at Tuesday night’s school board meeting showed just 37 of 1,513 high school athletes failed to meet the minimum during the fall semester, a rate of 2.4 percent. Of 826 middle school athletes, only 22 were declared ineligible (2.7 percent).

Last year, 131 of 1,452 high school athletes, a rate of 9 percent, and 43 out of 689 middle school athletes, a rate of 6 percent, did not meet the minimum GPA.

Beaufort County is one of only two districts in South Carolina, along with Richland District 1, that requires a 2.0 GPA for athletic participation.

“We raised our academic expectations because we were confident that our students could meet this challenge,” superintendent Jeff Moss said. “They have done that and made a very powerful statement in the process.”

The overall GPA for high school athletes rose to 3.93 this past fall, though that number is somewhat skewed by grading-scale changes implemented by the state Board of Education this year. Last year saw a districtwide GPA of 3.61.

Grades now are based on a 10-point scale — 90 percent for an A, 80 percent for a B, etc. — identical to those used in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and other states. Previous years were on a seven-point scale, with 93 percent required for an A.

In previous measurements, district athletes had never exceeded 95 percent meeting the 2.0 minimum.

Gregory McCord, the district’s chief auxiliary services officer, said this year’s results will be used as a baseline to measure future progress.

After-school tutorial programs are available at both the middle and high schools to assist students in danger of falling below the 2.0 minimum. Schools also pay special attention to making sure parents are aware of the rule.

“Our goal is to make sure that our student-athletes keep succeeding after they leave high school,” Moss said, “and particularly that they’re academically eligible for college scholarships.”

So far, 21 district athletes have signed national letters-of-intent to play collegiately. That includes nine football players — six from Hilton Head Island High alone — with others accepting scholarship offers in softball, baseball, soccer, gymnastics and swimming.

Five fall sports — tennis, golf, volleyball, cross country and cheerleading —— produced districtwide GPAs above 4.08. Tennis produced the highest average at 4.36; wrestling was lowest (3.47).

Among schools, four teams produced an average GPA above 4.5 — Bluffton tennis (4.77), Bluffton golf (4.74), May River tennis (4.59) and Hilton Head Island cross country (4.58).

This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 4:11 PM with the headline "How many Beaufort County athletes were forced to the sidelines for bad grades?."