Chapter 76. Extracurricular Activities

§76.1. Extracurricular Activities.

(a)  An extracurricular activity is an activity sponsored by the
     University Interscholastic League (UIL), the school district
     board of trustees, or an organization sanctioned by
     resolution of the board of trustees. The activity is not
     necessarily directly related to instruction of the essential
     knowledge and skills but may have an indirect relation to
     some areas of the curriculum. Extracurricular activities
     include, but are not limited to, public performances,
     contests, demonstrations, displays, and club activities,
     with the exception of public performances specified in
     paragraph (2) of this subsection.

     (1)  In addition, an activity shall be subject to the
          provisions for an extracurricular activity if any one
          of the following criteria apply:
     
          (A)  the activity is competitive;
          
          (B)  the activity is held in conjunction with another
               activity that is considered to be extracurricular;
          
          (C)  the activity is held off campus, except in a case
               in which adequate facilities do not exist on
               campus;
          
          (D)  the general public is invited; or
          
          (E)  an admission is charged.
          
     (2)  A student ineligible to participate in an
          extracurricular activity, but who is enrolled in a
          state-approved course that requires demonstration of
          the mastery of the essential knowledge and skills in a
          public performance, may participate in the performance
          subject to the following requirements and limitations.
     
          (A)  Only the criterion listed in paragraph (1)(D) of
               this subsection applies to the performance.
          
          (B)  The requirement for student participation in
               public is stated in the essential knowledge and
               skills of the course.
          
(b)  The school week is defined as beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the
     first instructional day of the calendar week and ending at
     the close of instruction on the last instructional day of
     the calendar week, excluding holidays.

(c)  A school district may not schedule or permit a student to
     participate in an extracurricular activity or a public
     performance that would require, permit, or allow the student
     to be absent from a class more than ten times during the
     school year. A school district may adopt policies that
     permit distribution of the ten absences during the school
     year for the purpose of participation in extracurricular
     activities.

(d)  A school district may grant individual student exceptions to
     the ten-absence limit stated in subsection (c) of this
     section for participation in post-district competition in
     extracurricular activities sponsored by UIL or another
     organization approved by the school district board of
     trustees. Each exception must be based on unforeseen
     circumstances resulting from the student earning the right
     to compete at the post-district level. An exception may not
     exceed a total of five additional absences per year. In
     addition, an exception may not be granted to allow a student
     who has not earned the right to compete at the post-district
     level to participate in more district-level activities than
     are permitted under subsection (c) of this section.

(e)  Under extenuating circumstances, a student who has incurred
     all five absences while participating in post-district
     activities as described in subsection (d) of this section
     may request up to an additional two absences for
     participation at the UIL state championship level of
     competition. The request must be made in advance of the
     competition to the UIL office of the director.

(f)  A school district must maintain an accurate record of each
     exception it grants to the ten-absence limit described in
     subsection (c) of this section and the limit of five post-
     district absences described in subsection (d) of this
     section. The record of exceptions must be kept on file in
     the school district and be available for inspection.

(g)  Limitations on practice, rehearsal, and student
     participation in extracurricular activities during the
     school week shall be as follows.

     (1)  For any given extracurricular activity, a student may
          not participate in more than one activity per school
          week, excluding holidays, except as provided in
          paragraph (2) of this subsection.
     
     (2)  In addition to the limit specified in paragraph (1) of
          this subsection of one extracurricular activity
          permitted per school week, a student may also
          participate in a tournament or post-district contest,
          as well as a contest postponed by weather or public
          disaster that may determine advancement to a post-
          district level of competition.
     
     (3)  For each extracurricular activity, a school district
          must limit students to a maximum of eight hours of
          practice and rehearsal outside the school day per
          school week.
     
     (4)  A school may not schedule an extracurricular activity
          or a public performance to occur on the day immediately
          preceding or evening immediately preceding the day on
          which the administration of the Texas Assessment of
          Academic Skills (TAAS) test is scheduled for Grades 3-8
          and 10. The commissioner of education may grant a
          modified test schedule or an exception to this
          provision for a school with extenuating circumstances.
          Any exception granted to the provision shall be
          reported to the State Board of Education (SBOE).
     
(h)  Limitations on practice and rehearsal for extracurricular
     activities during the school day shall be as follows.

     (1)  A school district must limit a student to one period of
          practice during the regularly scheduled school day for
          extracurricular activities, such as athletics, or drill
          team, or cheerleading.
     
     (2)  The limit specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection
          of one period per school day for practice in an
          extracurricular activity does not prohibit a student
          from enrolling in any state-approved class. A student
          who is enrolled in a state-approved class that includes
          essential knowledge and skills that relate to the
          preparation for an extracurricular activity may
          practice that extracurricular activity no more than one
          period during the school day.
     
     (3)  A student may not be permitted to miss a scheduled
          academic class to practice for an unrelated
          extracurricular activity.
     
     (4)  A school district must limit extracurricular practice
          during the school day to ensure that class periods for
          extracurricular practice do not exceed the time
          allotted for other class periods.
     
     (5)  A school operating on a non-traditional class schedule,
          such as a block schedule or accelerated block schedule,
          may elect to practice extracurricular activities daily,
          provided the extracurricular practice period is not
          longer than 60 minutes per day or the total minutes
          allowed for the extracurricular practice is not greater
          than 300 minutes during the school week.
     
(i)  The provisions of this section apply to any UIL activity.
     Any other organization requiring student participation that
     causes a student to miss a class may request sanction from
     the school district board of trustees. If the organization
     is sanctioned by resolution of the board of trustees,
     student participation in the organization's activities shall
     be subject to all provisions of this section and statute.
     Any absence incurred by a student while participating with
     an organization that has not received sanction from the
     school district board of trustees shall be subject to
     provisions of the Texas Education Code related to student
     attendance.