Much like at high schools across the country, members of the senior class of Socorro (N.M.) High School ditched school one day last week, prompting the school's athletic director to pull the weekend eligibility of any athletes who participated.
As reported by the El Defensor Chieftain, student-athletes who ditched class on Thursday, April 13, were ineligible to play their respective sports over the weekend.
Socorro AD Jarrod Storey is revamping how the school communicates attendance expectations to coaches, very few of whom actually teach on campus. “This was something we were already addressing, but Thursday’s senior skip day prompted the letter,” Storey said.
Senior skip days are recorded as far back as the 1930s, according to the Chieftain. Schools take different approaches to senior skip day, and Socorro’s approach has been students should be in school learning.
Below is Storey’s letter to athletes and their parents.
April 13, 2023
Socorro Consolidated Schools Families and Students,
This letter is to inform you of the district Athletic Handbook policy in regard to student attendance and participation. The Athletic Handbook states:
“1. In order for students to participate in an athletic contest, he/she must attend all classes that day up to the departure time set by coach. Unusual circumstances (Doctors appointments or school sponsored absences) will be handled on an individual basis with the principal or athletic director.
Students must use the proper procedure and bring a note back.
- A student/athlete who is truant or whose absence is unexcused will not be allowed to participate in practice or any athletic contest on the day of his/her absence. The principal, vice-principal, or athletic director may excuse any absence.”
Although we have failed to enforce this policy strictly up to this point in the year, we are going to enforce this the entirety of the school year and into next year. Another item of note, per the SHS Student Handbook, is that if your student is more than 15 minutes late to any class they are marked absent, which would result in them not being present all day, therefore making them ineligible to participate in events for that day, or if on a Thursday they would be unable to participate on Friday/Saturday events.
Our number one goal as a district is to ensure your students receive a quality education, and in order to do so they need to be in all their classes and in those classes on time. Being an athlete is a privilege and in order to maintain that they will need to be in class to maintain academic eligibility.
Thank you and GO WARRIORS!
Jarrod Storey
Athletic Director
