Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua North and South athletes will be operating under a different eligibility requirement for the start of the fall season if high school sports are allowed to return then..

NASHUA – There possibly could be a few more student athletes academically eligible than usual to compete in fall sports for Nashua High Schools North and South – if there is a fall season.

The fact that high school students this spring have been getting their education via remote learning instead of in the classroom due to the pandemic is the big reason. Some have opted to take courses pass/fail, rather than by grade.

“With half doing pass-fail, and half traditional, there’s no way we could use the C-minus rule,” Nashua athletic director Lisa Gingras said.

Thus, the Nashua Board of Education recently voted to suspend the high school section of policy JJJA – “Student Extracurricular Eligibility Academic Expectations” for the 2020 fall sports season only.

The basics of the rule requires students to have no more than one non-passing grade and to maintain a C-minus average.

So instead, the athletic department will use the standard set by the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association. That says students must pass two classes in a 4×4 block to be eligible for high school athletics.

If school resumes in the classroom in the fall and sports are played, this policy, Gingras said, will be in effect only for the fall. After the first marking period the eligibility rule will revert to JJJA for the remaining seasons.

Gingras spelled out the fall eligibility requirements in an email to students and their families. The requirements she listed via the Board of Education vote are as follows:

– A student must have a minimum of three classes.

– A student must pass at least two of those classes. Passing grades will be pass, pass with distinction, and traditional grades of C-minus or higher.

– Non passing grades will remain the same as defined in policy JJA: F, fail, NC, INC. Students should enroll in summer school to turn the non-passing grades into passing; the summer school grade would replace the non-passing grade in terms of determining eligibility for the fall if earned prior to the start of the season.

– Audits will not count toward eligibility other than as evidence that a class was taken.

Incoming freshmen, Gingras said, are automatically declared eligible for the start of the fall season.

Gingras said the change just makes sense, because of the quirks of remote learning at the high school level.

“There are so many struggles with remote learning with kids in the area,” she said. “People who know me know I hold kids to a high standard. But I want to do what’s right for the kids.”

Athletes can begin registering for fall sports on June 1, and registration is open right up until the start of tryouts in mid-August.

The fall marking period ends in early November, usually, and at that point traditional academic requirements take over, Gingras said.

What could be impacted as always would be teams going deep into fall tournaments, as well as players competing in the annual North-South Turkey Eve Bowl. The Panthers and Titans have at times lost players on their rosters for that game due to academic ineligibilities.

Coaching vacancies

Gingras said she has a couple of middle school cheer positions, a boys cross country coaching position at Fairgrounds Middle School, and a JV boys soccer opening at Nashua North for the next upcoming school year.

Interested candidates can contact her or go to the Nashua School District website to apply.

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