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All students must have at least one year of physical education in high school to graduate. But at Cooper High School the requirement may not actually involve a traditional P.E. class. Cooper will accept several other substitutes, which administrators say are an equal trade.
"They can't just opt out because they don't want to do it," says Lubbock Cooper instructor Robin Green. "They still have to have one credit, which is a year's worth of P.E., everyone has to have something comparable to that."
This means athletics, golf, cheer leading and even the marching band counts.
"I think these are very comparable," says Green. "A student has to have something that can take the place of one hour a day physical activity and, sometimes, they are more challenging than P.E."
Across the nation some schools are allowing 30 different options to substitute the original P.E. class. But lawmakers are still pushing for a standard workout class for all students.
"If a student is in training, like in gymnastics, they can bring in a form and it will count as P.E. I don't see why they need to work out more during the day while they are training," says Green.
Training in P.E. starts in middle school at Cooper ISD, but state regulations make sure the youngest kids get exercise.
"Elementary students must engage in a structure physical activity 30 minutes a day or 135 minutes a week," says Macy Satterwhite, an elementary instructor at Cooper.
Recess doesn't count. Cooper administrators say their current standards enable students to be more well-rounded, because of the extra activities that are accepted.
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