Brick's Home-School Sports Plan Moves Forward

Home-schooled students who wish to participate in public school varsity athletic programs will be required to submit a portfolio of their school work and take a test to prove their academic equivalency with their public school counterparts.

In November, the Board of Education voted to from town to play sports on school-sponsored teams, after the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) ruled that those students could play, as long as the local school board and building principal approved, and the student in question met scholastic requirements equivalent to those that in-district high school students had to meet.

But the requirement of academic equivalency was vague, and school officials decided that one student athlete could not participate on the Brick Memorial High School varsity squad to prevent the team's season from being disqualified in the case that one player's academic equivalency was challenged.

Athletic Director Bill Bruno has since contacted the NJSIAA, which stated the student should be allowed to play as long as academic equivalency, as determined by the high school principal, was proved by Feb. 15.

Dr. Richard V. Caldes and Dennis Filippone, the principals of and , respectively, said for the remainder of 2012, their policy will be that home-schooled students should submit a portfolio of their work and take tests proving their proficiency is equivalent to public school students in the subjects of English, math, science and world languages.

"It's a one-shot deal because it's mid-year," said Bruno. "Right now, we're trying to be as flexible as we can be so we can help this young man out."

The portfolio should include a record of a home-schooled student's work, the principals said.

"We're not saying you have to have 'x' number of items, but something representative of how much time, how many hours, you spent on that course work," said Filippone.

Caldes said home-schooled students would also have to meet the same personal conduct standards as their public school counterparts and submit to the same random drug tests.

Both Caldes and Filippone said they would continue working on a permanent policy to be put into place for next school year.

The idea passed muster with one parent.

"I'm optimistic," said Karl Scheufler, whose son is hoping to compete on the varsity hockey team.