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1016. STRIKE POLICYThe IHSA Board of Directors, in conformity with policy established by the Illinois State Board of Education for strike situations, has ruled that a member school which does not have fifty-one (51%) percent of the students in the district in attendance and cannot offer theminimum program required by state law and ISBE Circular Series A160 on a daily basis shall not engage in interscholastic activities.IIHSA By-laws 3.012 and 3.015, relating to attendance requirements and eligibility requirements of interscholastic participants, and Bylaw 2.050, relating to schools with which contests may be held, shall be enforced.The decision of the Board of Directors will not apply to time designated by the local Board of Education as school holidays or vacations, including the Illinois Code provision for five emergency days, provided school is in full operation on the school day preceding the schoolholiday.Under the following criteria, practice sessions of the normal length and frequency may be held during the period when school is not fully operating:1. They must be approved by the local Board of Education and school administration.2. They must be conducted by personnel who meet the provisions of By-law 2.070.3. They must be conducted in such manner that assures the health and safety of the participants.4. Students from a school on strike may not practice with a team from a school which is not on strike.Strike Policy — Participation in State Series During StrikeIf a school is on strike and not in legal session, as defined by the State Board of Education, on the date of the beginning competition inany IHSA state series, students from that school may not participate in the state series.However, when students from any member school first participate in the beginning level of competition in a given state series that stateseries is considered to have begun for all entered schools. If any school subsequently incurs a strike, the qualified teams and/or studentswill be permitted to continue participating in the state series, so far as the IHSA strike policy is concerned, even though their school may not be in legal session on the dates of subsequent state series competition in that sport.Participation During Weather or Other EmergenciesThe IHSA strike policy does not restrict schools from participating in activities on days when school is not held due to weather or otheremergency situations.The policy relates only to situations in which school is not operating due to strike circumstances.Host Activity During StrikeA school that is on strike may host an interscholastic event in which other schools participate. The striking school simply may notparticipate in the event.Discontinuation of Football PracticeIn the event football practices have been terminated, the following restrictions will be enforced:1. If football practices have been terminated for a period of at least seven (7) days, but less than fourteen (14) days, a school may not resume competition until after three (3) separate days of practice.2. If practices have been terminated for a period of fourteen (14) days or more, a school may not resume competition until after five(5) separate days of practice.3. Days in 1) and 2) above shall be interpreted as calendar days, excluding Sundays.7. MAKING THE WEEKLY ELIGIBILITY CHECKIHSA By-laws require that academic eligibility be checked each week to determine if students are passing twenty five (25) credit hours ofhigh school work. (By-law 3.021 and 4.021)The following procedure should be followed in making the weekly eligibility check:“Twenty five (25) credit hours of high school work” is defined as any combination of subjects, accepted by local high school authoritiesin determining the requirements for graduation and which accumulates at least 2.5 credits or its equivalent per semester. Since the rules require that a student must be passing in twenty five (25) credit hours per week, and even though eligibility certificates do not need tobe exchanged weekly, a weekly check of each student athlete’s scholastic eligibility is necessary.Most important to note is that “passing twenty five (25) credit hours per week” is determined by measuring a student’s performanceon a cumulative basis from the beginning of a semester through the date on which the check is made. In other words, schools should determine, on each eligibility check date, whether the student’s transcript would contain passing grades in each subject in the event thestudent should transfer from the school on that date. The check should not reflect only a given school’s week’s scholastic performance;rather it should reflect the student’s cumulative performance for the semester through the date of the check.Schools are expected to conduct this weekly check in some consistent manner convenient to their individual operations. Student eligibility or ineligibility is then affected on the Monday following the date of the check. For example, consider a school which checks