Lincoln High School

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Lincoln High School/Academics/Course Catalog/PE Waiver Policy

PE Waiver Policy

Physical Education (PE) is a graduation requirement according to Washington State and Seattle Public Schools guidelines.

Student must earn 1.5 credits within their four years of high school to be eligible to graduate. Per RCW 28A.230.050, there is a combination of both academic knowledge and physical performance. The performance component may be waived, but the academic knowledge cannot.  The academic requirement must be met either through course work in a fitness education class or by completing a competency test, which will be offered periodically outside of school.

Lenny the Lynx shows you how to correctly fill out the PE waiver form

PE Waiver Process

To give equitable information and to be transparent to our community, here is Lincoln’s PE Waiver process.

  1. PE can be deferred to later grades for students who take yearlong courses.
  2. A PE waiver does notgive a student permission to waive the PE requirement.
  3. PE waivers are applied to a student’s transcript during 2ndsemester of 11thgrade.
  4. A PE waiver MUST be submitted to your counselor at the end of the semester in which the sport was played.
  5. A PE waiver cannot be used to reduce a student’s schedule (ie. Late arrival, early release)
  6. No credit is earned when a PE waiver is applied.
  7. The expectation is that students take at least .5 credit of PE in the building.

Scenarios

  • If you have taken .5 PE credit in the building, you can waive remaining 1.0 PE credits by participating in coached athletics for 2 seasons.
  • For full-time Running Start students who have not taken PE yet, PE will be taken at Running Start to meet the .5 requirement.
  • Most of our students are enrolled in PE in 9thgrade.If you were not enrolled in PE in 9thgrade, it was because you took yearlong courses. If you no longer plan on taking yearlong courses, you will be placed in a PE class.
  • Students who are eligible to waive 3 semesters of PE are students who are enrolled in yearlong electives for all 4 years of high school, ie. Music, Theatre, and World Language.

How to Apply

To apply for a PE waiver, students must submit a completed High School Physical Education (PE) Waiver REquest Form. A paper copy of the form can be picked up from the counseling office, OR if the link provided here does not work, the form can be found on the SPS website by typing PE waiver in the search box OR Departments > School Counseling and Guidance>School Counseling.

Students may apply to waive the physical component of the PE credits based on the following areas:

  1. Physical Disability HPE8203 
  2. Religious Belief HPE8204  
  3. Directed Athletics HPE8205 (applied during junior/senior year as needed)
  4. Military Science HPE8206
  5. Employment HPE8207 
  6. Other Good Cause HPE8208 (applied during junior/senior year as needed) 

Students participating in SPS athletics or outside of school activity may begin submitting waivers at the end of the first semester freshman year.  As a reminder, the PE waiver is stored by the counseling office but will not be applied to the transcript until the second semester of a student’s 11th grade year.  Students should submit their PE waiver for storage at the completion of each athletic season to ensure obtaining appropriate signatures.

Application of PE waivers is dependent on room in academic course planning throughout the student’s four years, in discussion between the student and school counselor during the course selection period each academic year, considering the student’s commitment to elective programs and postsecondary plans.